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All Of Us - a collection of poetry by Raymond Carver, edited and with a foreword by his widowed wife, also a poet, Tess Gallagher.
I have always loved Carver's poetry and short stories, even the little bits that I had read before getting this book, but not until completing reading it did I finally fall utterly in love with his work. :)
Shanataram
by gregory david roberts
there comes a point, whilst reading, i think, sometimes, that you run out of things to think and start plopping books into mental categories 'ok,' 'good,' 'excellent.' 'would read again' etc. questions like this really allow me to think a bit more about the book.
so i will initially place it in a category: 'excellent, would totally read it again'
and now i shall think....
this was truly one of the best books i've read in a long time. there are parts that move slow, there are parts that read as exagerated battles from kill bill, however, the way roberts portrays an entire country, and his ability as a 'traveler,' as 'the foreigner' is just superb. if you have ever visited another country, somewhere just so entirely different from your own, you must read this book. it captures the essence of being an inside outsider. i find the philosophy rather contrived, but if anything it's made me want to visit India. This man's life....the life he tells about in the book....is :banana: unbelievable. i urge anyone interested in other countries....in the human spirit and in genuinely really good writing....poetic in places....to get your hands on this. it's just an excellent, addictive read!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scheherazade
I just saw the second book in the booksotre and the cover said "Something happens in the book" of course I'm paraphrasing here.......
Today I read Robbe-Grillet's " The House of Assignation" and it was great. Pretty confusing at first but once you get use to his style it just flows. The plot not too intriguing but the narration itself is interesting.
Today, on a break before clinicals, having finished much of my paperwork early, I completed reading Jeanette Winterson's Art Objects. Beautifully written non-fiction book with very unique insights and opinions about art, particularly literature, that reflected much of Winterson's past personal experiences and intuitions concerning art, of which I agree much about, but not quite everything.
*edit long entry* - maybe I will just begin a thread, as another forum member perhaps thought it also a good idea.
My rating of the book: 9/10.
i have just finished reading Animal Farm by George Orwell. it was one of the greatest books i have ever read and everyone should read it. it is not too long and not boring. this book is very successful, makes you addicted to it :).
my rating is of the book is 9.5/10
On Saturday, I began and finished Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea; I loved it so much, and having a lack of things to do, regardless, I read it in one sitting at my favorite coffeehouse.
Amazing book! All throughout the story, I had to turn my head down to hide my tears, the symbolism seeming so rich, but in such a simple, poetic way.
My rating: 10/10 (easily).
:)
Just finished, 'The MOuntain is Young,' by Han Suyin (she wrote 'A Many Splendored Thing in the late 1940's). The author is very discriptive of Katmandu, Tibet, the approach to life taken by the peoples there, and their approach to love in particular. Interesting as hell for (another) love story. But I had heard so much about his great author I had to read something of hers, and this book miraculously showed up at my door. Its taken me quite a while to read it though, maybe a month, (reading it on and off......have to check posts in "what are you reading right now" to be sure.....) but the book is by no means an easy read (keep a dictionary taped to the back jacket) yet a great read all the same.......
When I was a baby, I was given an oriental looking doll. My parents loved the movie Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (it was a hit when they were teenagers I think) and named the doll after Han Suyin (the leading character in the movie). As I grew older, I accepted that the doll was called 'Hansin' and dragged it around until both of us were too old to carry on doing so... It must be somewhere in my parents' attic now... :)Quote:
Originally Posted by baddad
Sher, that is correct. In real life Suyin was both a doctor (her character in the movie) and an author. She led an incredible life, had a brilliant mind, and was involved in critical areas and times, during her life. I am ashamed to say I had not heard of her until recently........ But I gotta tell ya, she has a friggin complicated vocabulary......and that doll (if it still has arms, legs and a head) is probably worth money on Ebay......
It is not a 'Han Suyin doll'(i.e., not like the Britney, Spice Girl dolls in the market);just an ordinary doll looking oriental (as I grew up people thought we looked a like! :rolleyes: ). My parents named the doll Han Suyin because they liked the character so much...Quote:
Originally Posted by baddad
I am sure it still has all the body parts attached to it but in a less than perfect condition...
Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich
Read this one yesterday while recovering from a cold. A crime thriller; adventures of a female bounty hunter (wannabe) told in a flowing, humourous language. Apparently, there are 12 in the Stephanie Plum (main character) collection. I would like to read them all.
Excellent read for lazy, relaxed days. 9/10 KitKats for its entertainment value.
I just finished Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, about 3 seconds ago! I'm really sad that I've finished it! I get like that when I finish a good book! Yes I am that sad! I thought this book was great! I know from some posts on here that most people won't agree with me, but I loved it! The love story between Heathcliff and Cathy, although sometimes disturbing, was actually really beautiful, as even after death their love lived on! I couldn't put it down! Strongly Reccomend it!!
I finished The Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau today - a beautifully written book that I started recently, but enjoyed so much that I read it continuously. Some of his "confessions" rather surprised me for his era of writing, but I suppose historical people could have seemed as unpredictable as society in present. Having read only little of Rousseau's work in the past, I found the work insightful to see the evolution of those ideas in his head, of which I admire.
Rating: 8.5/10. :)
The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was the last book I read. I'm reading 20,000 Leagues under the sea.