Goodreads Ireland discussion
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What Are You Reading
Isn't that a movie with Leo in it ?
It is, Colleen-it was directed by Scorcese as well. I haven't watched it yet, but may do so after listening to the audiobook.
I put down the wolf of wall street after reading the first 50 pages. My fiancé however laughed his head off at it til the very end. Each to there own with this one I'd say Alan.
I can understand why you'd have put the book down so early, Seraphina-it was after having listened to the story about the helicopter and the fight with his second wife that I was ready to give up on it. The business side of things is much more interesting though.
My book (For the Children: Goldberg Effect by JG Cosgrove) was just published. I am hoping that I will be able to travel to Ireland to do research on my next book.
I did not enjoy the Wolf of Wall Street movie that much. I don't take much pleasure of people ripping off other people. I did think Jonah Hill stole the movie. He was excellent. I am not a big Leo fan as I have heard many people, including George Clooney, say what a big asshole he is. I hope you enjoy the book though, Allan.
I with you Susan. I knew what the Wolf of Wall Street was about and so did not even go see it.
I am just tired of people screwing over others. I wish we could treat each other better.
Susan wrote: "I am just tired of people screwing over others. I wish we could treat each other better."or at least see the bad guys punished. Nowadays they get away with it, if they are rich that is.
I just finished Painter of Silence. It's a really good story of a deaf and mute man in Romania and the war followed by the Stalinist regime. I kept wishing he were a real person.
I'm currently reading Bridge of Signs by Richard Russo.
Allan wrote: "Once I'm done, I intend to read 'The Snapper' by Roddy Doyle, which was really well received on a recent episode of 'A Good Read"I really enjoyed hearing that on the podcast. Amusing to hear an english panel doing impressions of the Rabbitte family.
I think that show is turning into my favourite book podcast now too. For no-nonsense straight-up book recommendations, it's definitely one of the best.
@dalel, hi and welcome. I read nobody's fool by Russo and really enjoyed it. Lovely writing style. How are u finding that book?
Dalel wrote: "I'm currently reading Bridge of Signs by Richard Russo."Dalel and Seraphina - Russo is an American writer I'd like to read.
John - that podcast with the English panel doing the Rabbitte family must have been hilarious. I'll have to look for it.
I am currently (and finally) reading To Kill a Mockingbird and of course it is wonderful. I will have to watch the film again when I'm finished. After reading Doris Kearn Goodwin's book "Wait Til Next Year" I thought it'd be a good follow up as both capture specific American times and places.
Mod
No probs, Sara-you'll find the link below!http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04bng0z
I'd recommend the 'Books and Authors' podcast from Radio 4, which combines 'A Good Read' and 'Open Book'-you can find all the backlist here.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/...
Dalel wrote: "I'm currently reading Bridge of Signs by Richard Russo."I read that and loved it.
Sara / Barbara, since you are both perpetually reading Ulysses for your Joyce group, I was wondering if you'd heard of the Frank Delaney podcast 'Re: Joyce', which is posted in 5 min chunks every Wednesday, and seems to analyse the book paragraph by paragraph. Apparently it will take 22 years (!) to get completely through!http://blog.frankdelaney.com/re-joyce/
I found out about the podcast due to Delaney's book, 'James Joyce's Odyssey', being featured in the Heather Reyes anthology that I'm enjoying. There are a few extracts from different writers about Ulysses, which, along with Dave's positive comments about reading the book on his intro thread the other day, kinda make me want to give the audiobook version I got on Bloomsday a go.
I purchased the Delaney book for a penny plus postage anyway, so I suppose that could be a start for me...!
James Joyce's Odyssey: Guide to the Dublin of "Ulysses" - Frank Delaney
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Since I have just finished 'For the Children: The Goldberg Effect by JG Cosgrove'... I am hoping to travel to Ireland and get away for a while.
Barbara wrote: "Dalel wrote: "I'm currently reading Bridge of Signs by Richard Russo."Dalel and Seraphina - Russo is an American writer I'd like to read.
John - that podcast with the English panel doing the Rabb..."
Barbara, if you've never read any Russo, I'd highly recommend reading Straight Man. It will likely be a bit of a busman's holiday read, but I thought it was very funny; he captured academic life to a t. The others of his I've read, especially Empire Falls, were also excellent.
In addition to making my way slowly through the month's group read, I'm reading Hard Times. I read it ages ago, and loved it. Now, older and wiser, I'm admiring it and loving it even more. He's one of those authors I can always come back to and get even more out of his novels.
I've never read Hard Times but I'll have to get round to it Cahleen. My favourites are Great Expectations and Bleak House.
I loved Russo's Bridge of Sighs and Empire Falls. He's such a great writer. I have never read Hard Times. I'm looking forward to what you have to say.
Trelawn wrote: "I've never read Hard Times but I'll have to get round to it Cahleen. My favourites are Great Expectations and Bleak House."Trelawn, I reread Bleak House last year and I think it might be one of my favorites, but picking a favorite Dickens novel is hard. Great Expectations is up there, too. And A Tale of Two Cities... :)
Susan wrote: "I loved Russo's Bridge of Sighs and Empire Falls. He's such a great writer. I have never read Hard Times. I'm looking forward to what you have to say."I love how Dickens skewers hypocrites, charlatans, and posers :) And how he's understanding of the regular, good, but flawed people. One of the themes of Hard Times is making education more efficient, less subjective and humanistic. And you can imagine how that turns out :)
Allan wrote: "Sara / Barbara, since you are both perpetually reading Ulysses for your Joyce group, I was wondering if you'd heard of the Frank Delaney podcast 'Re: Joyce', which is posted in 5 min chunks every W..."Allan wrote: "Sara / Barbara, since you are both perpetually reading Ulysses for your Joyce group, I was wondering if you'd heard of the Frank Delaney podcast 'Re: Joyce', which is posted in 5 min chunks every W..."
This is something I definitely have to check out. We are now tackling Finnegan's Wake, but listening to a recording. In the past, the group has read Dante's Divine Comedy and The Odyssey.
And I have to confess to having read nearly no British classics including Dickens.
I finished Palisades Park and loved it.I haven't read either of his other two novels but I plan on it soon.To me the main character is the park ,I felt like I was there. Beautiful novel.I am now reading All the Light We Cannot See,Bel Canto,Ireland and Warsaw
Cathleen, I read Hard Times at school for my GCSE English Lit-I remember names like Gradgrind etc being very apt for the mood of the book. Of what I have read, my favourite Dickens is definitely 'Great Expectations'-we read it in school as well for A Level, and not knowing the story, I remember being completely engrossed in the story. I never think the film adaptations so the story justice.Colleen, the Frank Delaney book that you're reading is one that has an extract in the Dublin anthology that I enjoyed reading over the last few days. I've ordered his book on Joyce's Dublin on the strength of the extracts from that book. The Warsaw novel also looks like it'll be a good read. :)
As for me, I can see exactly why Roddy Doyle's Barrytown Trilogy has been chosen as Dublin's 'One City One Book' (even though it's 3 books!). I loved The Commitments a few months ago, and The Snapper is hilarious without being farcical. The dialogue is fantastic to the point where, despite there being little description as to what is going on physically during some of the conversations that the Rabbitte family are having, you can almost visualise yourself at their kitchen table. Jimmy Sr is hilarious!
Cathleen wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Dalel wrote: "I'm currently reading Bridge of Signs by Richard Russo."Dalel and Seraphina - Russo is an American writer I'd like to read.
John - that podcast with the English pane..."
Cathleen - just ordered Straight Man from Paperback Swap:) I think I had Empire Falls on my shelves but it may have been one of the books I destashed last summer. But no worries as I can pick up another copy cheaply.
Barbara wrote: "Cathleen wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Dalel wrote: "I'm currently reading Bridge of Signs by Richard Russo."Dalel and Seraphina - Russo is an American writer I'd like to read.
John - that podcast with..."
Barbara, I hope you enjoy Straight Man. It was very funny to me, primarily because he captured a good portion of my experiences as a college professor. If you do read Empire Falls at some point, then I'd also highly recommend the miniseries of it--with Ed Harris and Paul Newman. Paul Newman was outstanding in the role of Ed Harris's ne'er do well father. I think it was one of his last roles.
Allan wrote: "Cathleen, I read Hard Times at school for my GCSE English Lit-I remember names like Gradgrind etc being very apt for the mood of the book. Of what I have read, my favourite Dickens is definitely 'G..."Allan, those names--Gradgrind, Bounderby, Sparsit. I love how Dickens tips his hand to the characters by their names :)
Now I know that the Barrytown trilogy is Dublin's One Book/One City, I'll have to push it higher on my TBR list.
And on an unrelated note, I'm teaching a new course this fall, and I decided to include Transatlantic as one of the texts :) I can't wait to see what the students think of it.
Just to add, Frank Delaney's Ireland was a group read very early on in the group's inception. Once you've finished it, Colleen, you could jump in there.
Cathleen wrote: "Allan wrote: "Cathleen, I read Hard Times at school for my GCSE English Lit-I remember names like Gradgrind etc being very apt for the mood of the book. Of what I have read, my favourite Dickens is..."Cathleen - have to read Empire Falls as it is set in Maine. I think lots of us would be interested in hearing what you students think of Transatlantic.
Susan wrote: "Cathleen, what do you teach?"Susan, I teach education courses, but I was asked to teach an interdisciplinary course, outside of my department, on life stories.
Cathleen wrote: "Susan wrote: "Cathleen, what do you teach?"Susan, I teach education courses, but I was asked to teach an interdisciplinary course, outside of my department, on life stories."
Cathleen - I have developed and taught 2 interdisciplinary courses over the past few years outside of my department (also Education) and love the challenge. One is Irish Culture and Identity and focuses on 20th century Ireland and the other is The Politics of Language. Life Stories sounds fascinating.
Having just finished 'The Snapper', I'd warmly recommend it, the second in The Barrytown Trilogy, the book that Emma posted is Dublin's One City One Book for next year. It's a short novel, laugh out loud funny with some serious issues bubbling close to the service, and sparse yet amazingly visual. You could almost say that this is the blueprint for the Royles or the Gallaghers from the two well known tv series, The Royle Family and Shameless, but this family comes across as such a strong and loving unit, and both are pale in comparison, in this book anyway, to the Rabbittes. Doyle really captures the family dynamic perfectly, from dad Jimmy Sr to young daughters, Linda and Tracy, who provided the funniest moment in the book to me as a teacher, when they recounted to big sister Sharon how they dealt with a classmate who was insulting her. After a verbal and physical assault on the 'friend' to defend their sister's honour, Linda finishes the job by 'scribbling over her sums'. I've been laughing at the thought of that line alone for the last 3 days-I can just picture the scene!
I'm tempted to get stuck straight into The Van, but will wait for a week or two, if only to allow myself to savour the story in this one!
Never thought of the Royles/Galkagher similarities to the Curlies but its a good point Great book and film
I'm relatively new to the Graphic Novel thing; still feeling my way but I'm reading "Can't We Please Talk About Something More Pleasant!" by Roz Chast.She's a New Yorker cartoonist who was an only to child to elderly parents. She's now middle aged and her parents are in their nineties.
This is her story of their advancing frailty and how she and they cope with the challenges this brings.
The book hits the funny/sad axis dead-on. The drawings appear crude but I suppose that's her style - Easy to see them fitting into the New Yorker. And the Graphic format really helps. It adds to the depiction of her father especially, as his dementia makes him more feeble and afraid; objects and perspectives can be fooled around with to show his POV.
All in all, if you're looking to get into the GN medium, this is one you should try out
Allan wrote: "Having just finished 'The Snapper', I'd warmly recommend it, the second in The Barrytown Trilogy, the book that Emma posted is Dublin's One City One Book for next year. It's a short novel, laugh ou..."Allan - I've been wondering if one reads the trilogy, does it count at 3 books or one:)
Dave - nice description.
I am currently rereading The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, a book about an Ethiopian immigrant in Washington DC. I have already more than half the book since last night. It's the book for my book club meeting next Saturday.
Barbara, I'd call it three books, seeing that they were published different times and are completely separate stories. The Van is almost 300 pages alone in my edition, so is no novella! I really enjoyed the Mengestu book, as you know-I'm sure discussing it from a local perspective will be well worthwhile.I'm about a third of the way through 'Time Present and Time Past' by Deirdre Madden, and to be honest am finding it hard to get into it, despite both Barbara and Cathleen having given it a 5 star rating. I'll stick with it though, and hopefully it'll grab me soon...
Allan wrote: "Barbara, I'd call it three books, seeing that they were published different times and are completely separate stories. The Van is almost 300 pages alone in my edition, so is no novella! I really en..."I hope the Madden book comes through for you.
Barbara wrote: "Cathleen wrote: "Allan wrote: "Cathleen, I read Hard Times at school for my GCSE English Lit-I remember names like Gradgrind etc being very apt for the mood of the book. Of what I have read, my fav..."Thanks, Barbara. That novel will come along later in the semester, so I'll let you know :)
Barbara wrote: "Cathleen wrote: "Susan wrote: "Cathleen, what do you teach?"Susan, I teach education courses, but I was asked to teach an interdisciplinary course, outside of my department, on life stories."
Ca..."
Barbara, I am looking forward to the life stories courses. I had free rein, but also a very generous colleague who met with me and shared his syllabi, so I had some clue how the course had run. I can well imagine that the two interdisciplinary courses you teach would be fantastic. What perspective do you take with the politics of language?
Dave wrote: "I'm relatively new to the Graphic Novel thing; still feeling my way but I'm reading "Can't We Please Talk About Something More Pleasant!" by Roz Chast.She's a New Yorker cartoonist who was an only..."
I wonder if she's done some other short animations for the PBS station here. Your description of her work sounds familiar, but I haven't read that novel. It sounds really interesting :)
Allan wrote: "Barbara, I'd call it three books, seeing that they were published different times and are completely separate stories. The Van is almost 300 pages alone in my edition, so is no novella! I really en..."I hope it grows on you a little bit, Allan :) If not, at least it's a slim novel.
Cathleen wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Cathleen wrote: "Susan wrote: "Cathleen, what do you teach?"Susan, I teach education courses, but I was asked to teach an interdisciplinary course, outside of my department, on li..."
I take a human rights perspective. There is also a construct called linguistic human rights. Because I teach deaf undergrads in this course, I want them to understand that there are many groups of people in the world who struggle for the right to use their language. Also the idea of the link between language diversity and biodiversity. It's been a topic I have long been interested in.
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Dublin (city-pick series) - Heather Reyes
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...
Once I'm done, I intend to read 'The Snapper' by Roddy Doyle, which was really well received on a recent episode of 'A Good Read' and 'Time Present and Time Past' by Deirdre Madden, a book that I know both Barbara and Cathleen rate highly.
The Snapper
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Time Present and Time Past
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
In addition, I'm listening to a non Dublin based book-'The Wolf of Wall Street', which I'm not sure about-I was ready to return the audiobook, which I've never done before, after the first hour, the protagonist is so reprehensible, but now that I've accepted that I really don't like the guy, I'm actually finding his story quite interesting.
The Wolf of Wall Street
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...