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Another tangerine.
In bloody packs
I’m no longer terrorized
They are part of my ancient cryptography
Shield upon shield
I know them, I accept them
Like excrement and flies
Like nightmares and fleas
Like phlem and stench
Lodgers of celestial whorehouses
Hunger and grapes of stone
White veil, immaculate country of the misogynous
Onan, Don Juan, Oedipus, Machiavelli
The boy carries both eyes blinded
Dances to psychotropic Sodoma, Príapo
How could I be terrorized, then?
By Amelia Arellano
Aspects of the Novel E.M. Forster
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers
Inheritance of Loss Kiran Desai
Blindness of the Heart Julia Franck. 1/4. This one took forever. It began well but quickly lost steam. Although the end was moving it could not make up for the middle. I think perhaps there was something lost in translation. My interest flagged several times but I finally trudged through.
p.s. qimisung, I'm not farmer either but the scene with Levin in the fields make you want to be out there with the muzhiks cutting hay all day? AK is right at the top of my list. Better than War and Peace.
In reality, I probably wouldn't like it, but reading it-yes! The rhythym of it, the smell of the hay, the sun burning down on one's back, the feeling that one was doing good work, the feeling of brotherhood with the other people, I can feel it all now. Where is a scythe when you need one?
1. The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
2. Beautiful Creatures by Garcia/Stohl
3. Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
4. Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris
5. Room by Emma Donoghue
6. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
7. Touching the Surface by Kimberly Sabatini
8. The Further Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Greg Matthews
9. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
10. World's End by T.C. Boyle
11. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
12. John Adams by David McCullough
13. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
14. Looking for Alaska by John Green
Ivanhoe failed to improve. But since then, I've readQuote:
Originally Posted by Lykren
6. The Oresteia (Lattimore translation) was an interesting read. I'm not sure I'll re-read it anytime soon, but I can say that I loved the character of Cassandra. At the very least, it's fascinating to delve into such an ancient world.
Currently working on the Theban plays, by Sophocles, Grene translation.
it was very interesting novel
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey 9/10Quote:
1. The Bone People by Keri Hulme 9/10
2. Attila by William Napier 8/10
I am also in..
2 down......
a)Sins of Father
b)Brida
Finally done school. Now's the time!
1) Waiting for Godot- Beckett
2) Lady Chatterley's Lover- Lawrence
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn-forgot to list this previously. It's fairly good. I'd give it a 7/10
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spartk
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt
Anna Karenina 10/10
The Red Bow by George Saunders (short story) 7/10 It's actually quite good, just not to my taste; although I wouldn't rule out reading more of him.
World War Z by Max Brooks. It's good; zombies aren't really my thing. I'm more of a vampire girl, but it is well done. I really enjoyed the different points of view. And I want to see the movie this summer. 8/10
4. My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad 8/10Quote:
1. The Bone People by Keri Hulme 9/10
2. Attila by William Napier 8/10
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey 9/10
A little late to the party, but I will give it a go. Looking back over my shelves, here are the new authors I have read so far this year:
1. Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
2. Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
3. John Dies at the End by David Wong
4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
5. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
6. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
7. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver (what I am currently reading)
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn-forgot to list this previously. It's fairly good. I'd give it a 7/10
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spartk
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt
Anna Karenina 10/10
The Red Bow by George Saunders (short story) 7/10 It's actually quite good, just not to my taste; although I wouldn't rule out reading more of him.
World War Z by Max Brooks. It's good; zombies aren't really my thing. I'm more of a vampire girl, but it is well done. I really enjoyed the different points of view. And I want to see the movie this summer. 8/10
Lost Paradise Cees Nooteboom. 9/10 A short novel, but one that I keep returning to in my thoughts. It stays with you. I wish it had been longer, but it's what he does with it within this rather circumscribed form that I find rather fascinating.
5. The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis 8/10Quote:
1. The Bone People by Keri Hulme 9/10
2. Attila by William Napier 8/10
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey 9/10
4. My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad 8/10
1. The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
2. Beautiful Creatures by Garcia/Stohl
3. Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
4. Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris
5. Room by Emma Donoghue
6. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
7. Touching the Surface by Kimberly Sabatini
8. The Further Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Greg Matthews
9. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
10. World's End by T.C. Boyle
11. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
12. John Adams by David McCullough
13. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
14. Looking for Alaska by John Green
15. Johannes Cabal The Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn-forgot to list this previously. It's fairly good. I'd give it a 7/10
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spartk
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt
Anna Karenina 10/10
The Red Bow by George Saunders (short story) 7/10 It's actually quite good, just not to my taste; although I wouldn't rule out reading more of him.
Divergent by Veronica Roth 7/10 A YA novel about dystopian society in the same vein as The Hunger Games. An enjoyable read.
6. The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy 6/10Quote:
1. The Bone People by Keri Hulme 9/10
2. Attila by William Napier 8/10
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey 9/10
4. My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad 8/10
5. The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis 8/10
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn-forgot to list this previously. It's fairly good. I'd give it a 7/10
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spartk
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt
Anna Karenina 10/10
The Red Bow by George Saunders (short story) 7/10 It's actually quite good, just not to my taste; although I wouldn't rule out reading more of him.
World War Z by Max Brooks
Lost Paradise Cees Nooteboom. 9/10 A short novel, but one that I keep returning to in my thoughts. It stays with you. I wish it had been longer, but it's what he does with it within this rather circumscribed form that I find rather fascinating.
Divergent by Veronica Roth 7/10 A YA novel about dystopian society in the same vein as The Hunger Games. An enjoyable read.
I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga. 7/10 What can I say? I am reading some Young Adult literature this summer, to be better positioned to recommend books, and also to add to my roster of good books to teach. This was an enjoyable read. It's about a young man who's father is a renowned serial killer. It does present some interesting questions about how we decide who we are, what to keep of what our parents instill in us, and the difficulty of turning away from or overcoming really bad parenting.
7. Poodle Springs by Ramond Chandler 8/10Quote:
1. The Bone People by Keri Hulme 9/10
2. Attila by William Napier 8/10
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey 9/10
4. My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad 8/10
5. The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis 8/10
6.The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy 6/10
8. The Art of Fielding by Chad HarbachQuote:
Originally Posted by coeus
9. Don't Breath a Word by Jennifer McMahon
10. Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
8. Prophecy: Clash of Kings by M.K. Hume 6/10Quote:
1. The Bone People by Keri Hulme 9/10
2. Attila by William Napier 8/10
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey 9/10
4. My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad 8/10
5. The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis 8/10
6.The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy 6/10
7. Poodle Springs by Ramond Chandler 8/10
9. Spirit of Lost Angels by Lisa Perrat 5.75/10Quote:
1. The Bone People by Keri Hulme 9/10
2. Attila by William Napier 8/10
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey 9/10
4. My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad 8/10
5. The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis 8/10
6.The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy 6/10
7. Poodle Springs by Ramond Chandler 8/10
8. Prophecy: Clash of Kings by M.K. Hume 6/10
1. The Golden Notebook: 7.5/10. Shaky ending.
2. Lady Chatterley's Lover: 6/10. Too ideological.
3. Of Human Bondage: 8/10. Deeply passionate and humane.
4. A Passage to India: 7/10. Adeptly written.
5. Ivanhoe: 4/10. Simple-minded.
6. The Oresteia: 5.5/10. Hard to judge, but ultimately not too moving.
7. Theban plays: 6/10. Slightly better than the Oresteia.
8. Medea: 6.5/10. The most psychological of the Greek tragedies.
9. Lysistrata: 5/10. Must be hard to translate.
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: 6/10. Too chaotic to achieve much.
11. The Tale of the Heike: 7/10. Many small great scenes, but the overarching narrative was a beast to follow.
12. Kokoro: 5.5/10. Apathetically narrated.
13. Snow Country: 8.5/10. Brilliantly dealt with ambiguous emotions in a precise way.
14. The Makioka Sisters: 7.5/10. Touching occasionally, but also simply a little dull.
15. The Narrow Road to the Deep North: 5/10. Again, must be hard to translate.
10. The Master by Colm Toibin 6/10Quote:
1. The Bone People by Keri Hulme 9/10
2. Attila by William Napier 8/10
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey 9/10
4. My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad 8/10
5. The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis 8/10
6.The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy 6/10
7. Poodle Springs by Ramond Chandler 8/10
8. Prophecy: Clash of Kings by M.K. Hume 6/10
9. Spirit of Lost Angels by Lisa Perrat 5.75/10
Aspects of the Novel E.M. Forster
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers
Inheritance of Loss Kiran Desai
Blindness of the Heart Julia Franck.
After a break for some Faulkner, adding:
Awakening by Kate Chopin (3/4)
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (3/4)
Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison (3/4)
1. The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
2. Beautiful Creatures by Garcia/Stohl
3. Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
4. Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris
5. Room by Emma Donoghue
6. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
7. Touching the Surface by Kimberly Sabatini
8. The Further Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Greg Matthews
9. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
10. World's End by T.C. Boyle
11. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
12. John Adams by David McCullough
13. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
14. Looking for Alaska by John Green
15. Johannes Cabal The Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard
16. Shogun by James Clavell
Quote:
1. The Bone People by Keri Hulme 9/10
2. Attila by William Napier 8/10
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey 9/10
4. My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad 8/10
5. The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis 8/10
6.The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy 6/10
7. Poodle Springs by Ramond Chandler 8/10
8. Prophecy: Clash of Kings by M.K. Hume 6/10
9. Spirit of Lost Angels by Lisa Perrat 5.75/10
10. The Master by Colm Toibin 6/10
11. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield 9/10
And now Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse (3/4) Fantastic book.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bustrofedon
11. Goodbye to a River by John GravesQuote:
Originally Posted by coeus
12. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
13. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark
14. Stories From the Corner by FX Toole
15. Tinkers by Paul Harding (currently reading)
I finished reading the 13 new authors in this year:
1.Michael Crichton
2.Isaac Asimov
3.John Adair
4.John Keats
5.Jon Krakauer
6.James Allen
7.Ralph Waldo Emerson
8.Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kennetch Cuckier
9.Lao Tzu
10.Ayn Rand
11.Lewis Carroll
12.Ray Bradbury and
13.Philip K Dick
12. The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham 6.50/10Quote:
1. The Bone People by Keri Hulme 9/10
2. Attila by William Napier 8/10
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey 9/10
4. My Uncle Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad 8/10
5. The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis 8/10
6.The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy 6/10
7. Poodle Springs by Ramond Chandler 8/10
8. Prophecy: Clash of Kings by M.K. Hume 6/10
9. Spirit of Lost Angels by Lisa Perrat 5.75/10
10. The Master by Colm Toibin 6/10
11. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield 9/10
Aspects of the Novel E.M. Forster
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers
Inheritance of Loss Kiran Desai
Blindness of the Heart Julia Franck.
Awakening by Kate Chopin (3/4)
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (3/4)
Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison (3/4)
Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse (3/4) Fantastic book.
adding:
Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace 4/4
Fragmented, unresolved (so much so that I keep thinking I am missing the last pages), funny and sad. This is a great one. 981 pages of text with about 100 worth of footnotes and I did not want it to end.
next:
something shorter
Aspects of the Novel E.M. Forster
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers
Inheritance of Loss Kiran Desai
Blindness of the Heart Julia Franck.
Awakening by Kate Chopin
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse
Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
Finished:
House of Leaves Mark Danielewski. 3/4. Kind of a mind-jangling book, esp. back-to-back w/ IJ. This one will have to be flipped through again; searching for secrets.
Some comments on suggestions so far. Firstly, Poodle Springs is not by Raymond Chandler! He wrote two pages of rough notes for it and then dropped dead. Anyone who enjoyed this book might do well to read any of the seven books he did write about the same character, except the last one, Playback, which is a bit rubbish because he was dying of alcoholism.
Secondly, somebody said that they were put off reading War And Peace by the feeling that they'd be bored by lengthy descriptions of battles. Many other people think so too, but since all the chapters dealing with the Napoleonic War are self-contained and parallel to the main narrative about a few characters trying to cope with the increasing chaos they find themselves living in, you can skip every chapter that's basically a history lesson without losing any of the main plot - none of those characters appear at all in the historical chapters. Lots of people read the book that way.
Anyway - some suggestions of my own. Firstly, James Joyce - he really had a way with words! If you're not familiar with him, you might start with Dubliners and move on to Ulysses. Just one word of caution, though - don't even think about going anywhere near Finnegan's Wake. As one reviewer remarked, the second word in the title is missing an "n". Also, to fully appreciate it, you need to have a slightly higher IQ than God. And if you like superb wordplay from the Celtic areas of the UK about a century ago, you might check out Dylan Thomas while you're at it.
Other British authors who haven't been mentioned yet (guess where I live!) include the recently deceased Iain Banks, whose large output varied quite a bit in both style and quality, but the best of it really is special. You might start with his award-winning first novel The Wasp Factory. By the way, Iain M. Banks was the same guy, but he only used his middle initial when he was writing sci-fi to make it clear which genre you were getting. And what about Steve Aylett? He's not for everybody, but his utterly bizarre books will be greatly appreciated by anybody who loves that kind of incredibly intricate and frequently hilarious wordplay. He's the kind of author who can describe a character having "a near-death experience, immediately followed by death" and get away with it. Also, everybody in the world should be aware of the late, great Ivor Cutler. His work is most easily available on CD, but there are quite a few tiny little books out there as well, if you can find them. "Look son, I've never told you this, but I've some eggs here. I keep them in a box." "Yes mammy, I know, we sometimes have an egg." "No, no, son, this is different eggs. And I feed them meat..."
On the one hand I am way late to the party, on the other I just got the "serious reading" bug this summer so I might make it.
This year:
1. Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49, first 150 pages of Gravity's Rainbow -- Interesting, but not my cup of tea.
2. Ron Curie Jr, Everything Matters -- Cheesy at the end, but the end makes the book.
3. Charles Bukowski, Post Office, Factotum, Ham on Rye, and Women -- Bukowski is Bukowski, I dig it but there is too much other amazing stuff to read to come back now that I have read the essentials.
4. Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Journey to the end of the night -- Bukowski is also an echo of Céline, but Céline brings a lot more to the table in terms of charachter development and life experiences. The main problem with this book is that the translator gets in the way some times.
5. Vladimir Nabakov, Lolita -- I came to this book with high expectations, but not high enough. Well written, intense, and, in some ways, surprising. Definitely want to read more of his stuff when I get through the "survey" period of my reading experience.
6. James Purdy, Cabot Wright Begins -- A writer's writer. I'll stop short of amazing and say "very good." Somewhere between Bukowski and Celine.
I'm not counting:
James Joyce, The first 10 pages of Ulysses -- I didn't know what I was getting in to. Tabled for now.
Finished Play It As It Lays Joan Didion. 2/4. A good quick read. A tale of a woman's wanderings in an decadent, vacuous world and the effects of her experiences. For some reason I assumed Didion was prim. She's not.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bustrofedon
7. Jean-Paul Sarte, Nausea -- I approached this as literature, and as a work of pure fiction it fails IMO. Had I approached it more as a book of philosophy wrapped in a novel I would have been less disappointed, though some of his insights seem somewhat trite.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yaur
8. James Conrad, Heart of Darkness -- At his best Conrad is incredible at his worst he is pretty good. Definitely on the "read more" list.
9. Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises -- His characters seem terribly one-dimensional and the plot somewhat predictable. I'll likely give him another shot, but my first impression is "overrated".
in progress: William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch
It's been a long time since I read any Hemingway and back then I really liked what I read. But I think a rereading might put me in agreement with you after years of reading other stuff. I liked For Whom the Bell Tolls better than SAR so you might try that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yaur
As it turns out, I have read over 30 new authors this year. I've been making an effort to branch out and pry myself away from my favorites, and it worked! I don't want to post all of them, so I'll just post my top 13 of the year (in no particular order):
We, the Drowned - Carsten Jensen 10/10
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruis Zafon 9/10
The Orphan Master's Son - Adam Johnson 8/10
Room - Emma Donoghue 7/10
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver 8/10
Cutting for Stone - Adam Verghese 9/10
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card 7/10
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood 7/10
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel - Susanna Clarke 9/10
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky 7/10
World War Z - Max Brooks 7/10
A Visit from the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan 7/10
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and 1Q84 - Haruki Murakami both 8/10
Aspects of the Novel E.M. Forster
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers
Inheritance of Loss Kiran Desai
Blindness of the Heart Julia Franck.
Awakening by Kate Chopin
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse
Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
House of Leaves Mark Danielewski
Play it As it Lays Joan Didion
Adding The Corrections Jonathan Franzen 2/4, I think. Quite a dysfunctional family here but Franzen makes you see everyone's point of view. A nice satire on contemporary culture.
12 down 1 to go.