K. G. ’s Comments (group member since Dec 28, 2012)

K. G. ’s comments from the Classics Without All the Class group.

I just finished PLAYER OF GAMES by Iain M. Banks. I'm now working on A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING by Ruth Ozeki.

Francie wrote: "Daniel Defoe"
E. B. White

Morgen wrote: "Hi, I'm Morgen, and I like in Pennsylvania. I can't say I have a "favorite" genre, as I love to read just about anything that's well-written.

Favorite books include Mark Twain's Diaries of Adam ..."

Glad to know you're here, Morgan. Octavia Bulter fans need to stick together. I first discovered her in a SF as a literary genre course in college. Now, I have everything she's written except her first novel; she refused to allow it to be reprinted in her lifetime, and apparently, her will stipulated the same thing. Anyway, I loved THE XENOGENESIS TRILOGY (renamed LILITH'S BROOD) and SEED TO HARVEST (the first two of those four are the best). I haven't read KINDRED yet, so you may've inspired me to do so.

Karen

To THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL--LILLIES OF THE FIELD

To THE SIGN OF FOUR--LA REINE MARGOT (English as well as French title)

Jeane wrote: "I am looking for some advice from the group on whether or not this book has appeal to a teen audience.I am looking for adult books that would also appeal to a teen audience, and the main character ..."

Try THE NEVERENDING STORY by Michael Ende. It's a fantasy with a very philosophical point about literature--quite reassuring actually. I read it when I was a junior in high school; no, it was not assigned.

Angie wrote: "Margaret wrote: "What about the author Dorothy Sayers? I was thinking "mystery" and "classic" didn't go together, but we are reading Sherlock Holmes. I didn't see any of her books on the shelves...."

GAUDY NIGHT should be on there as well. For all that it looks like it, it is NOT a mystery novel. It's a feminist novel. It's really about relationships between men and women. It asks if women need men? If they be in a relationships with men without losing identity and independence? Is marriage not an inherently damaging relationship for women? These were all big questions in the 20s, and are still big questions.

Sandy wrote: "Marwa wrote: "I'd like to read Somerset Maugham's works someday.
I believe these three are his most popular.
Of Human Bondage
The Razor's Edge
The Painted Veil"

I heartily agree. He is a wonderfu..."

THE RAZOR'S EDGE is a wonderful book, but the narrative style is difficult b/c Maugham truly inserts himself into the story. I've got OF HUMAN BONDAGE on the Kindle, and MOON AND SIXPENCE on the bookshelf to read. I'll probably read M & S first--fictionalized view of Gaugain.

Hi, I'm KG from New Market, MD. It's 40 miles from Baltimore. Go Ravens! and sorry, 'Skins' fans.

I have eclectic tastes, but I tend to concentrate on mystery and SF, hard over soft, and little fantasy. I'm highly partial also to 18th British lit. Anybody ever read CECILIA by Frances Burney? Do you know its connection to PRIDE AND PREJUDICE? Jane Austen was a much better writer. I'm currently reading Oliver Goldsmith. I'm also fond of modern Japanese literature. I've loved Akutagawa, Endo, and Murakami.

I'm looking for people with similar interests who can point me in directions I've not thought about taking. As for a superpower, I'd like to have the aquatic powers--underwater stamina and ability to communicate with all the creatures of the sea.

Yuna wrote: "I love horror and mystery but I'm not sure which books I should read. Any recommendations?"

Mystery is a wide genre. What kind of mysteries? PI novels? Golden age detective fiction? Police procedurals/les romans policiers? Spy novels?

For PI novels--Dashiell Hammett THE MALTESE FALCON (movie w/Bogart is excellent, too) or THE GLASS KEY. As far as I am concerned you can skip anything Raymond Chandler wrote--couldn't plot--but if you must, probably THE BIG SLEEP. Ross Macdonald was great--THE CHILL and all his short stories (in one volume). Robert Parker's early Spencer novels and Sara Paretsky's early V. I. Warshawski novels. In the historical branch, Max Allen Collins's Nate Heller series--I love him.

Police Procedurals/les romans policiers--you can't go wrong with Ed McBain's 87 Precinct novels--HILL STREET BLUES before the show--the early novels are the best, I think. Also, Inspector Maigret by Georges Simenon; I'm not the biggest Maigret fan, but he wrote real procedurals. Modern British ones like Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus (if you can take the bleak) or John Lawton's Inspector Troy series (they're historicals).

Golden Age--Agatha Christie (the only one I ever liked was AND THEN THERE WERE NONE), Dorothy L Sayers (loved Lord Peter, hated Harriet Vane), Margery Allingham (Albert Campion), and Ngaio Marsh (Inspector Roderick Alleyn).

In the fantastical historical department, there's Boris Akunin-both his Erast Fandorin series and his Sister Pelagia series.