Virgil

I couldn't list what I read last year. I can't really remember. I know I read a lot, and I took a lit class so that added to the list, or maybe shortened my list of reading that I really wanted to do. I think I'll try to keep up this year.

Same thing happened to me until I joined lit net and noticed how people had lists of what they read. Now I keep one on my computer as I go.

Interesting variety and I like your reasoning about at least one history and one biography. You gave me a good idea for posting something on my blog.

I read Old Man And The Sea this year as well. It's one of my favorites, Hemingway's writing in that one is just pure poetry to me. I'm really looking forward to read more Hemingway. I read For Whom The Bell Tolls in high school but don't remember a lick. The main character of Old Man is so humble and at the same time insanely competitive. I realized along the way that he's just a man living, like Kerouac's Sal & Dean, like so many flawed characters in stories, myself too. Anyway, I'm curious whether you liked Waiting for Godot. White Camellia recommended it long ago, I never got through the first third. The dialogue is so punchy, short, seemingly trivial, I wasn't getting it.

I had such a pathetic year for reading in 2007. Seeing that you have read "The Taming of the Shrew" puts me in the mood for it again. I think I will put that on my "To Read" list for 2008. Actually, now that I think about it, I haven't read any Shakespeare in quite a long time. I think it is about time that I do so again, don't you think?

I read 'The Old Man and the Sea' this year as well Virgil. Loved it, it was like a fable, handed down from generation to generation. Did you notice the very minimalist punctuation? That struck me almost as much as the story. So, out of your list which was your favourite read of 2007? I think I'll have a go at constructing my list tonight, though my memory is poor and my reading extensive!

I had forgotten a few more which I've now added to the list. The Old Man and the Sea was an excellent read. And fun too. Hemingway as a rule is very minimalist Fifth. Jon, if you haven't read a Hemingway novel, I wouldn't start with For Whom The Bell Tolls. His two best are The Sun Also Rises (which I think you would like quite a lot, very Kerouac ) or A Farewell To Arms. Also A Moveable Feast, while not a novel, is quite good. But to me Hemingway is great not so much for his novels but his short stories. If you really want to purely enjoy Hemingway, get his collected stories and almost any of them are great. Fifth, out of my reads my favorite was Don Quixote and The Lover, only because I read them for the first time. Lady Went, we should get Scher to start up again the Shakespeare Discussion Group. It was before you joined I think. We would do a Shakespeare play together and discuss it act by act. I enjoyed Godot, Jon. It wasn't the first time I read it either. As a rule i probably don't rate Beckett as high as most Lit majors. His reducing things down to simplicity is rather a little simple for me. I like a writer who captures the complexity of things. But Godot is a good read.

If you really want to purely enjoy Hemingway, get his collected stories and almost any of them are great.

I have his Nick Adams stories. They're somewhere in my list, maybe I'll start reading them sometimes this year.
I studied a short story by him, that I hated to tell you the truth. It was called Hills Like White Elephants. It seemed kinda boring to me. Maybe I'll try reading more of his stuff in the future, short stories that is.

The Metamorphosis, a novella by Franz Kafka

I'm DYING to read this one, and also the trial. I can't seem to find them anywhere in here. The farthest I got with Franz Kafka was his short stories, and the guy is brilliant! I'll try photocopying the two books from my professor, and hopefully I'll finally read something by Kafka that is NOT a short story that ends in 15 minutes or so.

I studied a short story by him, that I hated to tell you the truth. It was called Hills Like White Elephants. It seemed kinda boring to me.

That is a very subtle one Nossa. I understand how you feel about that one. I don't think I got that one for many years. But there are others.

I know of the Shakespeare group, but I am pretty sure that it started before I joined here. I wouldn't mind being a part of that if it should start up again. That would be fun.

I never read The Sun Also Rises and only a couple of his short stories, so I'll definitely check them out, thanks! I thought the same reading the first pages of Waiting for Godot, a bit too minimalistic if there is such a thing. I had heard Don Quixote is very long and snorey. Now I'm confused.

You read much bettre then I but I mourn for your loss of time with Ethan Frome. I want that two hours back.