Matthew’s Comments (group member since Mar 08, 2015)

Matthew’s comments from the Reading List Completists group.

"Not when the odds have teeth" p. 339

Looks like when I read this I was writing very short reviews. But, here it is . . . and it looks like I enjoyed it:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Discuss the November 2020 Completist selection here

If you have not voted yet, please do so soon as voting ends tomorrow!

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

A busy October so I don't have time for any cutesy and/or creative banter . . . click the link below to VOTE! It may be the most important vote you make over the next couple of weeks! (Okay, I guess that is kind of banter-ish!)

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Happy voting and reading!

Matthew

Michael wrote: "As I wrote in this recent blog post, https://mfinocchiaro.wordpress.com/20..., it is hit and miss, but occasionally there are some really great discov..."

Very nice post! Based on the ones I have read, it appears that you and I are generally in agreement.

Michael wrote: "Maybe you reference this elsewhere, but I found this wiki invaluable: https://gravitys-rainbow.pynchonwiki...."

Thank you for the reference guide - that is perfect!

Michael wrote: "Just finished it for the second time. A stupendous book; for my money, the most complex and best-written American novel in the last 50 years. Pynchon was robbed in 1974 when the Pulitzer Board refu..."

I was reading about the Pulitzer controversy - very interesting! But, I have never put much stock what Pulitzer says ;)

Eileen wrote: " I definitely ended up enjoying this one and am trying to decide if I will dive into the sequel."

There is a sequel?

I read this one several years ago and it did not blow me away like it does some. I would say that it is one of Koontz's books where I was not impressed with dog use:

Click for my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

So . . . I have been listening to this one over the past few days. I am definitely referencing some reading guides.

So far, my one word for this book is "gross". This is not a commentary of the quality of the writing or whether I will end up liking it or not, there is just a lot of ewey, cringe-inducing moments so far.

Eileen wrote: "Okay, I found a copy of The Divine Comedy: Inferno translated by Wadsworth Longfellow, and I'm enjoying the narration so far, more than I expected. I will say that this is a book I am listening to ..."

That is the version I listened to - I actually finished it in one day last Saturday, but have been too busy to gather my thoughts for a review. As you said, the poetry makes it a little harder to review than prose!

General discussion of Gravity's Rainbow here - there may be some more specific discussion chains breaking out as we go along.

Starts today!

Starts today!

Discuss the October 2020 Completist selection here

Discuss the October 2020 Completist selection here

Looks like it will be both Watchers and Inferno for October 2020

Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon is the winner for October-December 2020.

And, of course, in the spirit of this group, we are tied with only a few hours left! Any last minute voters to sway our poll?

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...