J. Carlson's 50 reads for 2013

[J]

1. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
3. Galápagos by Kurt Vonnegut
4. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
5. The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata
6. Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
7. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
8. The Radioactive Boy Scout: The True Story of a Boy and His Backyard Nuclear Reactor by Ken Silverstein
9. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
10. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
11. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
12. Down the Rabbit Hole: A Novel by Juan Pablo Villalobos
13. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
14. Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám by Omar Khayyám
15. Dream of Fair to Middling Women: A Novel by Samuel Beckett
16. Candide: Or Optimism by Voltaire
17. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary

[Ash]

Such an eclectic selection! There's several on there that I've been meaning to read. What's been your favorite so far?

[Lina]

How is Waiting For Godot? I've been meaning to read it for ages, but I never seem to find it in any bookstore.

[J]

Hello fellow groupies!

Waiting For Godot is my favorite and best play I've read so far in my reading career, and I don't think I'll find much else that can compete. To Lina: I first saw it in the Drama section of the bookstore Barnes N Nobles, after seeing pretty much only Shakespeare there. I decided to check it out from my high school's library. I hear that most people have heard of it in school, and don't end up liking it. I think that has to do with the fact it's read in school though. It's comedic, in the midst of a painful situation thus being "tragicomedy". I really liked it though and the author/playwright himself too.

A Raisin in the Sun was 3 stars on first read, but over viewing the story, reading it again ("acting it out" to my mom, verbally) I settle on a four and I really like it.

Galápagos by Kurt Vonnegut was my first of the author and he's now my favorite author. Very odd story however. People who have a background on biology or the islands might enjoy this book slightly more than those who don't, but regardless it holds up it's own.

I think the best book is The Sound of The Mountain by Kawabata. It's a relaxing read, extremely poetic in it's descriptiveness without losing the reader. This is a true masterpiece that captures the beauty within family life and affairs and I would definitely read it again. I did read a majority of Snow Country, not finished, it's what the author is known for but it didn't hold up my interest very well near the last 30 pages.

Like Kawabata's book, The Old Man and the Sea is actually similar, in that both main characters are old men. Now, I forget if in The Sound of The Mountain our main character in focus is the narrator but it seems so, making it a very similarly told story, regarding the perspective. If you liked the more familiarly known story of The Old Man and the Sea you'll love the Sound of The Mountain. But back to Hemingway, his (character's) narrative is perfect here. It's easy to read and captivating. This book is also an obvious five star masterpiece in my eyes.

So to answer Ashley question again, The Sound of The Mountain was amazing! Stellar eastern literature plus my favorite book.

[J]

18.You Don't Have to Be Buddhist to Know Nothing: An Illustrious Collection of Thoughts on Naught

19.The Crying of Lot 49

20.Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

21.Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

[J]

22. Their Eyes Were Watching God

23. Nobody Trusts a Black Magician

24. Eeeee Eee Eeee

25. PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives

26. Hate List

27. Shoplifting from American Apparel

28. Bottomless Belly Button

29. This Craft of Verse

30. Become What You Are

31. The Man Without A Country

32. Socks

33. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

34. Taipei

35. The Dark Man: An Illustrated Poem

36. Selected Poems

37. Oleanna

38. Great Expectations

I made a vow to myself not to list anything I've read on this forum until I finished Great Expectations (because it's required reading) and I'm so happy it's done with! Great book though.