What did we read in January?

[Dori]

I knew I would forget something. I also read three essays by Umberto Eco:

"On Some Functions of Literature"
"On the Style of The Communist Manifesto"
"Wilde: Paradox and Aphorism"

And speaking of aphorisms, I'm pretty sure I've bits and pieces of Schopenhauer's Essays and Aphorisms. For some reason I always end up reading Schopenhauer on the toilet.

[Joreads]

I knew I would forget something. I also read three essays by Umberto Eco:

"On Some Functions of Literature"
"On the Style of The Communist Manifesto"
"Wilde: Paradox and Aphorism"

And speaking of aphorisms, I'm pretty sure I've bits and pieces of Schopenhauer's Essays and Aphorisms. For some reason I always end up reading Schopenhauer on the toilet.

Remind me not to borrow books off you please

[Jeremiah Jazzz]

I knew I would forget something. I also read three essays by Umberto Eco:

"On Some Functions of Literature"
"On the Style of The Communist Manifesto"
"Wilde: Paradox and Aphorism"

And speaking of aphorisms, I'm pretty sure I've bits and pieces of Schopenhauer's Essays and Aphorisms. For some reason I always end up reading Schopenhauer on the toilet.

Oh I was wondering how Eco is. So how is he?

Also, I read Essays and Aphorisms last month. Schopenhauer is great anywhere, be it the toilet or sewers!

[Dori]

Oh I was wondering how Eco is. So how is he?

Also, I read Essays and Aphorisms last month. Schopenhauer is great anywhere, be it the toilet or sewers!

I really like Eco. The essays I read were certainly worth reading.

And so were Schopenhauer's Essays and Aphorisms, though I can't boast of reading it in its entirety---yet.

[subterranean]

"On Some Functions of Literature"

I know that Eco's are absolutely worth reading. I have On Literature and I can see that On Some Functions of Literature is included as one of the chapters. I haven't got the chance to read it so perhaps you can share me some of his thoughts on this subject.

[Dori]

I know that Eco's are absolutely worth reading. I have On Literature and I can see that On Some Functions of Literature is included as one of the chapters. I haven't got the chance to read it so perhaps you can share me some of his thoughts on this subject.

Yes, that's the very same book I own: On Literature. "On Some Functions of Literature" is the first "chapter."

I shall enumerate of few of his points by quotation:

"Above all, literature keeps language alive as our collective heritage."

"Reading works of literature forces on us an exercise of fidelity and respect, albeit within a certain freedom of interpretation."

"...[T]he world of literature inspires certainty that there are certain unquestionable assumptions, and that literature therefore offers us a model, however fictitious, of truth."

"We will have to find a space in the universe where these characters live and shape our behavior to such an extent that we choose them as role models for our life, and for the life of others, so that we are clear about what we mean when we say that someone has an Oedipus complex or a Gargantuan appetite, that someone behaves quixotically, is as jealous as Othello, doubts like Hamlet, is an incurable Don Juan, or is a Scrooge."

"I believe that one of the principle functions of literature lies in these lessons about fate and death. Perhaps there are others, but for the moment none spring to mind."

The last quotation was how he ended it. I really liked that ending.


On another note, I was almost inspired to read The Communist Manifesto after reading Eco's essay, "On the Style of The Communist Manifesto." I really enjoyed that essay of his.

[crystalmoonshin]

I read the ff. last month:
1. Anne Rice's "The Tale of the Body Thief"
2. San Manuel Bueno y Martir (Miguel de Unamuno)
3. Life is a Dream (Calderon)
4. The Sheep Well (Lope de Vega)
5. Obasan (Joy Kogawa)

[geewiz]

Mister Pip (disappointing)
Oliver Twist (not Dickens' best plot-wise imo)
Merchant of Venice
King Lear (third read, my second favorite Shakespeare after Hamlet)
Tom Sawyer (revisited and still my favorite piece of children lit)
The Secret Agent (Conrad brilliant as usual, this book really needs more appreciation)

This and some poetry from a couple of anthologies I own. Not bad for someone doing a completely unrelated major (economics) in university

[DeadAsDreams]

Catch-22
Life of Pi
Notes From Underground

[Tallon]

Probably the most productive month of reading i've ever had.

A Farewell To Arms - Ernest Hemingway
The New York Trilogy - Paul Auster
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky
1984 - George Orwell
The Sirens Of Titan - Lurt Vonnegut

and started Lolita by Nabokov.

[thomas212]

Probably the most productive month of reading i've ever had.

A Farewell To Arms - Ernest Hemingway
The New York Trilogy - Paul Auster
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky
1984 - George Orwell
The Sirens Of Titan - Lurt Vonnegut

and started Lolita by Nabokov.

A farewell to arm must have felt light against those heavyweight.I must admit i hated it.

[meanmissy]

you may like to read Menaha's Discovery TERRAEM, i came across this novel a few weeks back...it is an interesting novel by Bryan Meadan targeted for kids ages 8-14...you may also like to visit the website: terraem.com

thanks

[bouquin]

LA NUIT SACREE -- Tahar Ben Jelloun
The New York Trilogy -- Paul Auster
Enduring Love -- Ewan McEwan
The Venetian's Wife -- Nick Bantock
Collected Stories -- Gabriel Garcia Marquez