Readers and Reading discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Book Miscellany
>
What are you reading now? Finished recently? 4/5 through 11/6/2009
Mod
Bunny wrote: "Charles, I like Iain Pears a lot - what's Stone's Fall about?I'm on about page 180 (of 706 pages) of The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann - OMG! He's almost as bad as Proust - 3 weeks in the life..."
Stone's fall starts in 1909 and concerns a financier who has ostensibly died by falling out a window. The detective is a reporter hired by the widow to find a child mentioned in the will, under cover of writing a biography. So far as good as but not so tangled as the Fingerpost book. I encourage you to keep working on The Magic Mountain. One of those books I re-read periodically. The education of Hans Castorp in life, and then he goes down off the mountain and gets killed in the trenches and it's all wasted. For Hans, but not us of course. The book is almost snide at some points, and Hans can be such a lovable schmuck. Of course, the slowness of the thing is part of its appeal to me. (I am a frequent re-reader of Proust and other books of that ilk) I usually leaven such books with a mystery story of some sort -- Judge Dee, Donna Leon... A recent courtroom thriller I recommend is Robert Rotenberg's Old City Hall, set in Toronto. Cheers.
Charles
Michael wrote: "Re Painted Veil and MaughamNo, Bunny, I somehow missed Of Human Bondage when it was assigned reading in some of our high school classes, and its title has never struck me as inviting. Looking..."
You might look into some of Maugham's stories, which I think are his best stuff. Laconic, understated, exotic settings. Then there is Ashenden, which inagurates the modern spy story. (The movie is not good. As I remember, Peter Lorre played The Hairless Mexican -- that can't be right, can it?)
Charles
Charles wrote: The education of Hans Castorp in life, and then he goes down off the mountain and gets killed in the trenches and it's all wasted. For Hans, but not us of course."MAYBE he dies in the trenches. Charles, you're not supposed to tell me the end of a book even if I've read it already, which I have :) All of this life I'm involved with and that's where it ends? To say it's wasted for Hans is to say it's wasted for all of us, when, in truth, we live then we die. Hans story is the same for all of us in that respect.
Joachim's character doesn't seem as sharply delineated as the rest to me - a ghost already?
Stone's Fall sounds good enough to read. I loved Fingerpost and have read most of the Italian mysteries. Like you, I like a good mystery to break up the power of writers like Pamuk and Mann
Bunny wrote: "Charles wrote: The education of Hans Castorp in life, and then he goes down off the mountain and gets killed in the trenches and it's all wasted. For Hans, but not us of course."MAYBE he dies i..."
Oops. I often read books from both ends to the middle, so I forget. I also watch movies that way. Sorry.
Bunny wrote: "I'm on about page 180 (of 706 pages) of The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann - OMG! He's almost as bad as Proust - 3 weeks in the life..."Let's see.... three weeks.... only a year and three-quarters more to go, isn't it? Has Settembrini made his appearance yet?
Have fun, Bunny! (If you can..... lol)
Charles wrote: "You might look into some of Maugham's stories, which I think are his best stuff. Laconic, understated, exotic settings..."I'm filing your suggestion away in my Maugham drawer. Given the story-telling skill in Painted Veil, I can well imagine good short stories. But I have a feeling I am going to have to try Of Human Bondage. It seems obvious why that title hasn't given me much of a push toward the book -- but same with Moon and Sixpence. Between the pence, and the obscurity of its meaning, I have just never wanted to open the book. I was intrigued to see that Maugham "reviewed" himself in this way, approximately -- not in the absolute first class, but in the very first row of the second-raters.
That little tension between modesty and immodesty is probably quite characteristic, I'm thinking.
I'm about half way through The Magic Mountain and those of you who know know how much information and opinions and philosophy I've got filling my mind. I was just stunned by the by argument for a religious state between Settembrini and Naphta, so stunned in fact that I'll have to reread it - that will add another 6 months on to the time I'm devoting to this book :)I love the Foreword where Mann, who is much more amusing than I thought he would be, warns me:
And so this storyteller will not be finished telling our Hans' story in only a moment or two. The seven days in one week will not suffice, nor will seven months. It will be best for him if he is not all too clear about the number of earthly days that will pass as the tale weaves its web about him. For God's sake, surely it cannot be as long as seven years!
Bunny wrote: "I'm about half way through The Magic Mountain and those of you who know know how much information and opinions and philosophy I've got filling my mind. I was just stunned by the by argument for a ..."Magic Mountain is a wise, wise book. It suggests many things, concludes nothing, invests ideas with wicked humor, and richly repays slow study. Fortunaely, it's not the only such book.
Charles
Has anyone read Josef Hirsal's A Bohemian Youth (tr Michael Heim. Northwestern, 1997)? It's a book like Nabokov's Pale Fire, told in footnotes. I've written one of these myself (22 Remarks On the Old Ones) and would like to hear about others, if anyone knows of them.Charles
Mod
Another review said it better than I "Dan Brown chooses to use Langdon's inner monologues to tell us every single piece of research he's done for this book. Instead of weaving it into the story he decides to tell us everything rather than showing it to us."
The endless pages of detail about Masons and about Noetic science......snore!
BTW, I liked every other book of his, even the early ones without Robert Langdon. I actually fell asleep twice while reading The Lost Symbol....something I never do!
I was just reading some other GoodReaders' reviews of Brown's book and came upon this one, which made me LOL
"Is it still vaguely enjoyable in the way only a Dan Brown book can be? Yes. Does Dan Brown's copy editor need to be publicly humiliated? YES AND HIS NAME IS APPARENTLY JASON KAUFMAN (according to the Acknowledgements, so I'm not like, stalking anyone here)
Also, if I ever have to read the words "neutered sex organ" again, I will be forced to remove my eyeballs and then pour bleach directly onto my brain."
I just finished a sweet little book, Heroic Measures by Jill Ciment about an aging couple in NYC and their little injured daschund, Dorothy.
Mod
I loved this book, Sue....
I just finished The Kennedy Women: The Saga of An American Family by Laurence Leamer (phew over 800 pages) and today I am starting Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant.
Mod
Whew, that was a big one. What did you think of it?
I read Sheila Kennedy's book years ago, about her "annulment" and it was almost chilling the power this family had/has. BTW, that annulment was negated by the Catholic church after she fought it for years. Surprising (to the family, I am sure), esp. since she is an Episcopalian!
JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "I am soooo annoyed with myself. Today I finished Dan Brown's new book and I do not know why I did not stop after 100 pages. It was just awful. Way too much information, in a very lecturing kind of ..."I thought Maureen Dowd's review of this book in NYT book section was pretty darn funny! Basically,I think she agrees with you! The subject of Masons does not get my toes a tappin' so I would not consider reading this!
Mod
Sue, Thanks to a recommendation from JoAnn, I read this last month too, and loved it. A small book, well written. It also helps that we loves dachshunds, and are currently at the beck and call of two of them!
Donna in Southern Maryland
I read "Sacred Hearts" a couple of months ago and enjoyed it. A friend of mine had the opportunity to see the author at a book reading here in WA and was so fascinated by the talk that she bought the book.Shannon
Speaking of Masons, I'd almost finished The Magic Mountain when we went to Montana last weekend and, guess what? I left it there!!! I went crazy last night wondering whether to begin another book or wait until I either got mine back (someday) or bought another copy. OK - I started a book called Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier. Starts well - a classics language professor in Bern briefly meets a woman from Portugal and is so enamored by her and her language that he walk out of his job and takes the night train to Lisbon.As for The Magic Mountain, well, Joaquin's dead and I know how it ends ~
As Freud said, there are no accidents, Bunny! The fates have spoken..... Bunny wrote: "Speaking of Masons, I'd almost finished The Magic Mountain when we went to Montana last weekend and, guess what? I left it there!!! ..."
Michael wrote: "As Freud said, there are no accidents, Bunny! The fates have spoken..... LOL, Michael!
Mod
Just plain fun to read!
I loved this book....lots about jewelry, food, antiques, shenanigans, Provence, London....what more could one want?
Looking forward to reading the next one with Kick Keswick in it! That one is set in Provence.
My SIL has foisted upon me the following:The History of Love
I'm enjoying it but not loving it the way she does. I've told her i'm not a big fan of contemporary novels but this one is keeping me engaged. Tonight her DIL visits & this is the one who foisted the book upon my SIL. LOL! Should be fun discussing.
deborah
madrano wrote: "My SIL has foisted upon me the following:The History of Love
I'm enjoying it but not loving it the way she does. I've told her i'm not a big fan of..."
Deborah,
I read this a couple of years ago. It was recommended by a friend, whho loved it. I felt the way you did. It kept mme engaged but I would not recommend it
Meredith
I loved, The History of Love. I enjoyed the way it was written and the plot. I gave it a top rating. I read it with my F2F book club. And everyone there liked it a lot, too.
It's great to read the various thoughts on THOL, thank you both. I haven't picked it up since last i wrote but talked to the original foister. She helped me see that i needn't try to figure out who wrote the book...i thought that was an important part of the story. Now i can relax. LOL!deborah
I'm reading Homicide In Hardcover by Kate Carlisle. The first book for this author. The main character restores old books. Murder has occured in her world.A fun little cozy mystery.
Sounds good, Lin! Let us know if it continues to keep your interest.deborah
Mod
A fun little cozy mystery."
I love to read about book restoration. Thanks for this title.
Finished up Homicide In Hardcover by Kate Carlisle this morning. I would categorize it in the cozy mystery genre. I rated it a 3 out of 5 stars. It was okay for what it was.Next up for me will be Buffalo Valley by Debbie Macomber. This book will finish up the Dakota series by her that I have been reading this year.
One of my present audio books is The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. I probably would never have chosen this, but my DH and I share an audible.com account and it was his turn to pick. I'm enjoying it immensely, not for any religious themes or symbolism, but for the story and language. I must remember to keep an open mind in the future
Just finished up The Girl Who Played With Fire. Great book! I wasn't sure what to expect after loving the first one, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but the second one is just as good.
Mod
And sometimes this is all we need a book to be! I felt the same way about "Brilliant" by Marne Kellogg, although I felt it was of some value because I learned quite a bit from it.
Mod
Thanks for this input...I am always looking for new audio titles since I never listen to the radio in my car.
Can you listen to a bit of the book before downloading it?
I have Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight waiting for me at the library and should be getting the audio of Connelly's new book Nine Dragons in a couple of weeks.
JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: Can you listen to a bit of the book before downloading it?
Audible.com does let you listen to a small sample - enough to know if the reader is going to annoy or not. I just downloaded the audio for Wolf Hall - 24 hrs. long! Now I guess I need to plan some road trips.
I have Nine Dragons in my soon-to-read pile and am looking forward to it.
Mod
That book has gotten great reviews.
When you download it to your iPod, do you then play it thru the speakers in the car via some kind of converter?
I finally finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog and went to my local discussion last night. There was a good turnout, and most people had finished the book -- not all. I was amazed we had as good a discussion as we did and still not reveal the ending. The group was split half and half. I like the parallels between the concierge Renee and the girl Paloma, and liked the way they developed and changed by the end. Some people were put off by the philosophical chapters, little essays really, or were annoyed by the cynical child.
I started "Her Fearful Symmetry" by Audrey Neffenneger who also wrote The Time Traveler's Wife. So far, it is quite interesting.
JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Marcy wrote: " I just downloaded the audio for Wolf Hall - 24 hrs. long! Now I guess I need to plan some road trips. ..."That book has gotten great reviews.
When you download it to your iPod,..."
I use an I-Trip Auto converter which plugs into the cig. lighter. Works fine as long as the area isn't dense with fm stations in the 81.0-89.0 range. I think there are other more expensive options if there is too much interference. My little Prius in Ca.is set to play Ipods with just a cable.
Mod
Thanks for posting your group's reaction to this. How many people were there?
Mod
This was in a public school in Oyster Bay, NY. My experience with HS guidance counselors is that most of their time and effort goes into the kids with problems (or troublemakers), with little time left over for actual "guidance" ---let alone doing what this guy did.
I haven't posted in a long time, but after recieving an email from JoAnn, I decided to stop by.I finished Moloka'i by Alan Brennert last week, and really enjoyed it. I'm sure I learned about the leper colonies eons ago when I was in school, but don't really remember much about this. It was fascinating to read about it. My husband has been to Hawaii a couple of times (unfortunately before we met) and I need to ask him if he was to Moloka'i and what he knows about it. I also just finished Savannah Blues by Mary Kay Andrews. Yesterday I started East of the Sun by Julia Gregson, about young British women in the 1920's going to India to find husbands.
Mod
Hi, Judy! Good to see you here.
I read Moloka'i last year and also found it fascinating. I went to Catholic elementary school and learning about Father/Saint Damien and his work among the lepers. This is probably what attracted me to the book. What a sad and lonely lives these people had.
I was interested earlier this month in a man who served with Father Damien. When I participated in a historical society cemetery tour as the wife of a local businessman, I learned that Brother Dutton, who had been originally a Yankee soldier from Vermont, ended up in Molokai. We have a local school named after him.
Joann and Sherry, you both know so much more about it than me, but I definitely learned a lot reading it.Someone on another board mentioned to me about another book set in Greece that also dealt with leper colonies, but she couln't remember the name of the book. Do any of you know what it might be?
Ear;ier this wek, I finished The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber. It was okay but not great. I am currently reading 2 novellas by Jane Smiley Ordinary Love and Good Wess. So far I amenjoying themMeredith
Mod
JoAnn/QuAppelle wrote: "Meredith, the only books of Macomber's I read are the knitting shop ones and her last was not as good as the first books in this series"Joanne,
This was the first book in the knitting series. This is the second Macomber book I have read. With so many books out there, I think I will pass on this author's books going forward
Meredith
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Readers and Reading
Books mentioned in this topic
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (other topics)The Wet Nurse's Tale (other topics)
Nine Coaches Waiting (other topics)
The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds (other topics)
Last Night in Twisted River (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Mary Stewart (other topics)Linda Lael Miller (other topics)
I'm on about page 180 (of 706 pages) of The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann - OMG! He's almost as bad as Proust - 3 weeks in the life of our hero, described in detail filled pages that would comprise at least 500 pages in a modern writer's book, and the author says the next 3 weeks will take equally long. I don't know if I'm going to make it. I know more about this man than I know about myself. At least Mann doesn't spend 2 or 3 pages describing how a fly crawls up the window, but he's close.