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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations & reviews
Jenny wrote: "Albert wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Finished Cosmopolis by Don DeLillo yesterday. What an odd book! (has anyone seen the movie?) A very clever, coldish analysis on the relationship of money, ..."Jenny, just jumping in here. My fave DeLillo is White Noise, the most 'normal' of all his books, I think. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just finished The Tudor Secret by C.W. Gortner.My review is at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Chrissie wrote: "Finished Dragon Seed. Everybody should be informed of the Nanjing Massacre. Which book do you want to choose, this or The Rape of Nanking? Don't choose [book:The Flowers o..."I saw this book the last time I went to the secondhand shop but I didn't buy it. There were a lot of books by Pearl S. Buck except the ones I was looking for: the sequel of The Good Earth.
Chrissie wrote: "Bette, try The Last Queen instead."I already have that on my tbr. Have The Confessions of Catherine de Medici on my coffee table, waiting to be read:)
Pink wrote: "Leslie, have you read Island? I've been meaning to read it for ages..."No - I picked Chrome Yellow because a) it's on the Guardian's list and b) it's got a color in the title. I have decided to try to read as many of the "colorful" titles from my TBR as I can during the remainder of 2015 in homage to my rainbow challenge. *grin*
Chrissie wrote: "Finished Dragon Seed. Everybody should be informed of the Nanjing Massacre. Which book do you want to choose, this or The Rape of Nanking? Don't choose The Flowers o..."</i>Chrissie, if I were to choose, I would pick [book:The Rape of Nanking. Since a lot of Iris Chang's research was actually done in Nanjing in the Chinese language, her work would be most authentic. But I wasn't going to read the book, because I don't want the graphic details to stick. I do have a general idea of what happened from other Chinese works.
dely wrote: "There were a lot of books by Pearl S. Buck except the ones I was looking for: the sequel of The Good Earth."Typical!
B the BookAddict wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Bette, try The Last Queen instead."I already have that on my tbr. Have The Confessions of Catherine de Medici on my coffee table, waiting to be read:)"
I've read The Confessions....too, but I didn't like that one as much as the other. It has a slow start, so be a bit patient. It is worth the wait. It is meticulously researched.
Alice wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Finished Dragon Seed. Everybody should be informed of the Nanjing Massacre. Which book do you want to choose, this or The Rape of Nanking? Don't choose [b..."I put off reading Chang's book for several years. I didn't think I could deal with it. I reasoned just as you, I knew what I was in for so why sit there and read a description word for word? I realized that I had made a mistake in putting it off. Read it, Alice. You are strong enough. There is no way this topic can be covered without moving the reader, but it is necessary to know the details. Just my pov.
Albert wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Albert wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Finished Cosmopolis by Don DeLillo yesterday. What an odd book! (has anyone seen the movie?) A very clever, coldish analysis on the relations..."No I haven't read Underworld by him, but I am intending to! Really liked White Noise of his too, so with you, Bette and myself really liking it, I think that makes the largest group of people I've ever met who could agree on this book ;) (two friends of mine have stated they will never ever read another book by him after having read that ;))
Just finished Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. 4/4.5 stars (haven't quite made my mind yet).Didn't find hard to read at all -the hard part was putting it down. Admittedly, Melville goes on tangents quite a few times, but if you like whales and/or boats you're not going to find it bothersome (haha).
I finished a mystery, Cop Hater, from the 1950s. I would recommend any serious fan of this genre to read it as it introduced several innovations now perhaps commonplace. 4*
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Didn't find hard to read at all -the hard part was putting it down. Admittedly, Melville goes on ..."
My definition entirely! It gained me a 30 cum laude on my first exam of Angloamerican literature: it seemed I was the only student so fashinated by it. I compared Achab to the Ulisse by Dante, in his Inferno. Apparently I was not the first to have had this impression
Finished Homo Faber by Max Frisch.My review (Italian and English): https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
posted by Migle, now moved to this thread I definitely 100% recommend reading Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell☺️ it has such a nice story l
I'd be seriously cross if my parents had called me Rainbow, lol.
B the BookAddict wrote: "I'd be seriously cross if my parents had called me Rainbow, lol."Haha it's probs just a pen name...
Although it could be a lot worse!
I think some people actually named their baby Tyrion ;)
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Ahahah! Me too. But my cousin called her son Ocean. What's worst?
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Didn't find hard to read at all -the hard part was putting it down. Admittedly, Mel..."
Laura and Gavin, I haven't yet read Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, but I was very taken with two of his shorter works. I found Billy Budd, Sailor both moving and beautifully written. Bartleby, the Scrivener was about as different from that one as possible but highly entertaining nevertheless. One day I will certainly get around to Moby-Dick; or, The Whale!
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A very different experience than the average Wharton for me though. Usually I identify strongly with her female protagonists. In this one, I wanted to strangle Undine by halfway through the book. But the novel has all of Wharton's usual gifts: a suble and complex understanding of human interactions & social systems, fine writing, and sharp social satire. I didn't like it as much as The House of Mirth, but I liked it very much indeed.
B the BookAddict wrote: "I'd be seriously cross if my parents had called me Rainbow, lol."I dunno, my parents named me Pink...
Greg wrote: "LauraT wrote: "Gavin wrote: "Just finished Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. 4/4.5 stars (haven't quite made my mind yet).Didn't find hard to read at all -the hard part was putting it down. ..."
Remember seeing Billy budd. as a stage play many years ago. Very moving.
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I haven't seen the stage play Dale, but I did see the opera adaption by Benjamin Britten with a libretto by E.M. Forster. It was a very interesting opera (I'm glad I went) but I'm not generally a big opera fan and probably would've liked the play you saw better. :)
If you haven't read the original novel by Melville I highly recommend it - not too long; so it isn't a huge commitment. Probably in the whereabouts of 100 pages.
LauraT wrote: "B the BookAddict wrote: "I'd be seriously cross if my parents had called me Rainbow, lol."Ahahah! Me too. But my cousin called her son Ocean. What's worst?"
There is a moderately popular radio guy here in the US named Benjamin Dover. That's always slayed me. How could a person with last name Dover seriously name their son Ben? Ben Dover. Too funny!
Chuck wrote: "LauraT wrote: "B the BookAddict wrote: "I'd be seriously cross if my parents had called me Rainbow, lol."Ahahah! Me too. But my cousin called her son Ocean. What's worst?"
There is a moderately ..."
I knew a guy named Peter Moss; everyone called him Pete. Another case when the parents should have seen it coming!
Pink wrote: "B the BookAddict wrote: "I'd be seriously cross if my parents had called me Rainbow, lol."I dunno, my parents named me Pink..."
Some friends of my daughter have a child called rainbow. Other names, not in the same family, include spring, summer and autumn.
I've encountered a few Summers and Autumns, but nobody called spring. A friend of the family named her daughter Circle a few years ago. We didn't think she was serious at first, but she was. I'm not a huge fan of strange names, but then again mine seems just normal to me! I originally wanted to name my son Oberon, but backed out of it, so named him Otis instead. Oberon is still one of his middle names though!
Oh and my brother's name is Beaumont, which I guess is kind of unusual. Though we call him Beau, which isn't quite as unheard of.
Pink wrote: "B the BookAddict wrote: "I'd be seriously cross if my parents had called me Rainbow, lol."I dunno, my parents named me Pink..."
I like your name, I like you and am used to the name.
The son of a friend named his son after his favourite motorcycle. Luckily it was a Harley and not a Kawasaki.
B the BookAddict wrote: "Pink wrote: "B the BookAddict wrote: "I'd be seriously cross if my parents had called me Rainbow, lol."I dunno, my parents named me Pink..."
I like your name, I like you and am used to the name."
Ditto!
Gill wrote: "The son of a friend named his son after his favourite motorcycle. Luckily it was a Harley and not a Kawasaki."
LOL!
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I do have one silly name story. Our company has a branch in China, and for some reason, the software testers in China that work with us often choose a Western name to go by and use Western name order. I don't know why. Maybe we just slaughter the pronunciations too much?
One very nice woman whose last name was Gu unfortunately chose the name "Cherry"; so all her emails list her as Cherry Gu.
Pink, I think your parents chose wonderful names for both you and your brother. Who wants an ordinary name?!
Greg wrote: I haven't seen the stage play [Billy Budd] Dale, but I did see the opera adaption by Benjamin Britten with a libretto b..."
I've also seen this opera, Greg, and was going to post about it, too, until I saw your post.
There is also a Moby Dick opera out there now by Jake Hegge, which is wonderful. My spouse and I got to see the premier in Dallas.
(p.s. to Greg, you might also enjoy Britten's "Peter Grimes." Darker than Billy Budd, but wonderful music)
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Thanks Tejas Janet! The next time a production of Peter Grimes comes to my area, I'll definitely check it out!
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A very different experience than the average Wharton for me though. Usually I identi..."
I've listen to it in June.nliked it a lot as well
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My latest read 204 Rosewood Lane, was finished quite a while ago, not a lot of reading time for me lately. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished La letteratura tamil a Napoli by Alessio Arena (Tamil Literature in Naples). There isn't an English edition but don't worry, this books isn't worth to be read. I gave it 2 stars only because I managed to finish it.I really don't know what this book was talking about. We have ten characters, among which Tamils that fled from Sri Lanka during the war with the Singhalese, and a few Italians with the passion of Tamil literature. It is set in Naples, above all in the underground of the city, and the characters write books about their story. They also want to do something important so that the world knows about this war. At the end I don't know what they do, it's not explained! Some of them die, some others flee...they wanted to do a lot but at the end the reader doesn't know the meaning of this book and the events described in it. Weird. They talk about fighting war with the written word, with their books, but they also try to blow themselves up in the underground to make collapse the city. Very contradictory. I think the author wanted to add too many things in this book but at the end there is nothing in it.
Have you heard of the South American liberator from Spanish rule? If that interests you, check out Bolivar: American Liberator.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I kind of give some hints about who might like this book most. It helps to know Spanish, at least if you listen to the audiobook.
Pink, Blue or Violet - it strikes me that most color names could be wonderful unless the recipient found that the color wasn't his or her favorite.I'm not quite as excited by variants of common names (e.g. Jayme) which appear to be misspellings. However, I recognize that this is nonsense on my part. There are not quite a zillion ways to spell / vary John, so who am I to call one the correct spelling?
Finders Keepers. 3 stars. Not S.K's best writing, but very entertaining nonetheless. I read the whole thing in one go.
Finished The Odyssey. Loved the smooth lyrical form and the thrilling narrative. I'm glad that I dived right into this important work of the Western canon of literature.My short review
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All About Books
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My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...