false 79 350 349 true 5690482 read 0 true 704031 currently-reading 1 true 704030 to-read http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/233499-november-birthdays Ricki made a comment in the Constant Reader group:

Happy Birthday, Ellen.

I hope you have a great year. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/241572-literary-writers Ricki made a comment in the Constant Reader group:

Joe,

You can read John Crace's The Digested Read columns (and past columns) on The Guardian website.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/series/d...

I've often mentioned the columns on here and am so glad that you have found out about Crace.
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78084779 to: Kafka on the Shore (Paperback) by Haruki Murakami
Brilliant. Somewhat surreal, as one would expect from Murakami, but enought of the philosophical musings mixed in with a good storyline. I find it amazing that he manages to weave strands in and out of each other and then draw them together in a seamless fashion. Aside from that, his writing is itself of such good quality. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys immersing him or herself in a book. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/229655-the-sound-of-the-mountain Ricki made a comment in the Constant Reader group:

Interesting Whitaker,

I like reading the books of other cultures because they help me to understand the viewpoints (and I emphasis the 's' because no culture has one distinctive viewpoint) by which its participants (citizens?) construct and deconstruct their world. But for me, the joy of this book was that it seemed real. There is no plot to most of our lives, things unfold, we deal with them, we go on and we reflect and eventually, if we are lucky enough to be reflective people, we learn more about ourselves, our lives, the people who touch us. If we're not reflective, we just continue experiencing whatever comes to us. And yes, most western books force us to see a plot that overlies the contents of the lives that the books cover. For me it is perhaps Western literature, in general, as there are exceptions, that gives us a somewhat distorted view of what life is about, that has us hurrying from one plot-filled novel to the next, speed-reading on the way. Long may books last that enable me to slowly mull over their contents. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/238475-the-execution Ricki made a comment in the Constant Reader group:

From what we have read over here, the perpetrator of this crime was shown as having a severe mental illness. I'd like to know whether he has been portrayed as such in the States and if so, do you think that someone who is mentally ill is as responsible for his actions as someone who is deemed to be 'sane' (whilst I freely admit that I feel that anyone who commits a murder has to be 'insane' at least for the moments before the murder).

Also, in thinking of ways to avoid these killing sprees, I'm at a loss as to why there isn't an outcry from a wider portion of the populace by now for stricter gun control. Do you think that the possibility of controlling the acquisition of guns has become impossible or well-nigh impossible at the moment?

Do please realise, I'm not criticising, I'm just curious and I'm also going to apologise that I shall read your responses later tomorrow as I've got to go off-line now. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/208646-mechanics-of-the-board Ricki made a comment in the Constant Reader group:

Hello Writer and Reader,

You also asked about topics moving up and down the board - we have a facility to keep certain topics on the board - for example, the Reading List or the Voting is kept for the duration since it is something that someone may want to refer to easily or that we would like new people to be able to see. Other topics can float as and when they are current. However, if you look for the button underthe bos 'search discussion posts' on the right of your screen you will see a place where you can click on 'unread topics' and that will bring up any that you have not read whether they are current or not. Hope that helps. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76679833 to: The Sound of the Mountain (Paperback) by Yasunari Kawabata
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73519315 to: The March: A Novel (Paperback) by E.L. Doctorow
Brilliant writing that winds together the stories of several sections of the population (from soldiers to displaced landowners, doctors, escaped prisoners to the new freemen) affected by Sherman's march through the South in such a seamless fashion that one can only admire the talent of Doctorow. It also has the advantage of insights into war and conflict - the tedium, trauma, and changes in fortune leading to the conquest of the land and culture. Loved every bit of it. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/71634621 to: Murder on the Eiffel Tower (Victor Legris, #1) by Claude Izner
Don't bother. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/71079519 to: Oblivion: Stories (Paperback) by David Foster Wallace
I really enjoyed the title story from this book and at least parts of the others. This may sound horrid but from his writing in this book I could understand why he committed suicide: his mind must have been constantly working, looking, dissecting and analysing - living with a mind like that must have been incredibly difficult. This tendency to dissect situations and people meant that, in most of these stories, what started out interesting, expanded into something deeper and more interesting, but finished with my wanting it all to end as I was overwhelmed by the continual delving and detailing in the story. Had this happened only with one story I would have put it down to happenstance but when it happened several times in the volume I have to think that he was either in a manic phase when he wrote these or that, as I suggested above, his mind was just something terrifically difficult to live with.
That said, I'm looking forward to reading some of his other work which I've had tasters of via the net. ]]>