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What are you currently reading?
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Werner
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Apr 11, 2020 04:38PM
Today, I've started my third read of
Life is a Miracle: An Essay Against Modern Superstition by Wendell Berry. I've never reviewed the book, but I've wanted to for some time, because I'm very impressed with Berry as a serious thinker. But though I've already read it twice before, years ago, I felt that I need a fresh read to really do it justice. This seemed like a good time to do that, since I wanted a relatively short book that I can finish before starting a buddy read in another group.
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I've started reading Les Miserables (Norman Denny translation). I'm on page 70 today.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles is one of my favourite books! Some time I would like to reread all Thomas Hardy's novels :)I'm coming to the end of Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie. I used to think she was rather literal and dull, but this one has quite a bit of humour in it. And she's clearly been reading Charles Dickens :)
Started How We Think.I'd intended to devote time to Chekhov and Conrad. Instead, I've gotten distracted by Nietzsche, Dewey and Orwell. Oh well, Chekhov and Conrad will still be there When I'm ready for them.
Donnally wrote: "Started How We Think.I'd intended to devote time to Chekhov and Conrad. Instead, I've gotten distracted by Nietzsche, Dewey and Orwell. Oh well, Chekhov and Conrad will still be the..."
Nietzsche… interesting character, that one. What are you thinking of his work so far?
Steele wrote: "Donnally wrote: "Started How We Think . . .Nietzsche… interesting character, that one. What are you thinking of his work so far?I'd intended to devote time to Chekhov and Conrad. Instead, I've gotten distracted by Nietzsche, Dewey and Orwell. Oh well, Chekhov and Conrad ..."
I find him exhilarating. The overt casting off of religious thought, the proclamation that God has died, the declaration that man no longer has to bow down before a part of his own intellect, sets mankind free to become the ubermensch. A lot of this was distorted and taken out of context as a subtext for fascistic thought, leading to Orwell's vision in 1984, based on the premise that man's goal is not 'happiness' a la Aristotle in The Nicomachean Ethics, but rather 'the will to power.'
Something I find particularly interesting is Nietzsche's idea that logic was invented so men could justify the decisions they reached by intuition. This is in line with much of Dewey's thought in Logic: The Theory of Inquiry. His pragmatic approach is that Aristotelian logic is purely formalistic, and that logic only makes sense as a tool to reach a warrantable assertion. But I think we're starting to tip toe into the deep end of epistemology here.
BTW, Steele, I notice your interest in fantasy. You might like to take a look at my novel The Devil's Workshop. In the first chapter God is being buried, and the book attempts to explore the ontological consequences. Finally Father Time has to step in and rectify the situation, but no spoilers here.
Hmm.... Sounds like an interesting read. I'll definitely look into it.Also, my thanks for the insight on Nietzsche. Although I've yet to read his works myself (it's on my list), my overall impression of him, up to this point, from others and historical references to him, was a cynical, somewhat senile, anti-Christian philosopher. The way you described his ideas definitely puts a more.... sensible, spin on it.
Granted, I still don't AGREE with most of his ideas (first and foremost, I'm a man of faith--I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints), I can, at least, understand the rational (or lack thereof? haha) behind them. Thank you.
Steele wrote: "Hmm.... Sounds like an interesting read. I'll definitely look into it.Also, my thanks for the insight on Nietzsche. Although I've yet to read his works myself (it's on my list), my overall impres..."
I'd suggest start with The Birth of Tragedy. If you find that to your liking, move on to Thus Spake Zarathustra.
Since C. S. Lewis is a favorite author of mine, and since I was wanting another short read to help fill in the time before a May common read in another group, I've started on
The Abolition of Man. It's only 115 pages (and they have wide margins and relatively large type), so I might actually finish it today.
I've just read Benjamin Franklin's "Proposals for the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania", which he wrote in 1749. I thought it would be interesting to look into his insights after having read How We Think. According to Franklin, the ultimate and highest goal of education is "to improve their Hearts and Understandings . . . To inspire them with Principles of Honour and Probity, to train them up to good Habits" and to correct and subdue their "ill Inclinations." and I can't imagine anyone who could describe those ill inclinations better than Franklin. It reads like a prescient description of a certain person living today: "such as Pride, Insolence, an high Opinion of themselves and a saucy Vanity continually employed in lessening others; a blind Self-love solely attentive to its own Advantage; a Spirit of Raillery which is pleased with offending and insulting others; an Indolence and Sloth, which renders all the good Qualities of the Mind useless." [All italics and capitalization are Franklin's.]
In one of my other groups, a common read of
The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder by William Hope Hodgson starts today, and I'm joining in that. (Some editions use the shortened title Carnacki, the Ghost Finder, but it's the same book.) Since I've long considered this one to be a must-read, I'm excited to have finally started it! (Although, as a long-ago appetizer for the main course, I read one of the stories, "The Whistling Room," in an anthology back when I was a kid.)
I'm really enjoying that one too, Werner :) Also today I started another reread of David Copperfield. Both of these should fit into the Litwit group-wide challenge quite well, I think :)
Bionic Jean wrote: "I'm really enjoying that one too, Werner :) Also today I started another reread of David Copperfield. Both of these should fit into the Litwit group-wide challenge quite well, I think :)"Yes, both books will be good additions to the roster for the 2020 classics challenge!
Harper Lee's
To Kill a Mockingbird, of course, is a landmark novel of 20th-century American literature. I've long regretted not having read it earlier (back in the 60s and 70s, I'd been put off by the title, mistakenly thinking the plot involved bird-killing!), and had made up my mind that 2020 would be the year in which I finally remedied that. So, I'm glad to say that I started reading it this afternoon!
Charly, like you, I have no intention of ever reading Go Set a Watchman. I don't doubt that the material is from her pen (or typewriter :-) ); my understanding is that it's part of the rejected outtakes from the first draft of TKaM. But it was rejected for a reason; Lee was happy with the final draft, and made no move to publish any of the cullings for decades. It was only when she was about 90 and nearly at her life's end that she supposedly "agreed" to let the 'sequel" be published, under probably diminished mental capability and subject to what I strongly suspect was undue pressure from the publisher (who stood to greatly gain from it financially). IMO, the whole proceeding stank to high heaven.Thanks for the tip about McCullers' novel. The Bluefield College library has it, so I'll keep it in mind.
Charly wrote: "Perhaps it is just me but I think these two works might have been a wonderful paring when teaching Mockingbird. They are different but at least I see a thread of similarity. In any case Lee and Mc..."
I'm sure they'd make an interesting comparison, and I've read reviews that praise McCullers' writing. Of course, for me the problem is that I already have 396 books on my to-read shelf (with another 142 on the "maybe to read" shelf!), and probably around 100 of them in stacked in my mountainous physical TBR piles. "So many books, so little time!" :-(
I liked your review of it, Charly!Since I started counting in 2014, my yearly total of books read has been between 33-38 (and was probably about the same in most of the years before, from about the beginning of the 90s). Like you, I usually read two books at a time, one to myself and another I'm reading to Barb; but I read to her in the car, and the pandemic has greatly cut down our time on the road. :-(
I am reading Cyrano. And it surprises (amazes?) me that this and other works like Les Miserables have poems that still rhyme after translation (in these two cases from French to English). Has anyone discovered this in other translations as well as languages?
Well, yes, word choice, of course... I wasn't suggesting it was magic; rather, I was marveling that the few times I've seen it it has been so seamlessly done. In this translation of Cyrano, you still note every bit of pride in every sarcastic line. So yes, I'm amazed that nothing is lost. Of course, I don't know the other language to truly judge, but only what is known on these two particular classics.
In another group I belong to, a common read of one of Agatha Christie's Poirot mysteries,
Death on the Nile, is to start on June 1. I'm a slow reader (or rather, I read quickly enough as such, but have limited time for it each day, so it takes me more time than most to finish a book) and may not get a chance to read on Monday, since we're expecting company. So, since I was ready to start a new book anyway, I went ahead and began my read of this today.
I just added that to my TO READ list, I really should have at least one Agatha Christie under my belt. I'm still going through a strange distraction period of late (the last couple months)... admittedly, I am listening to classics I've already read as I fall asleep. Cyrano, however, is still on my night table.
Hang in there, Reggia! (If you do read sometime, I hope you like it.
Peggy, you can share that quote on this thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... , too, if you want to!
Anna Karenina. Already one third into the book.
Finished The Evolution of Physics: From Early Concepts to Relativity and Quanta. Starting Mosses from an Old Manse.
I finished Death on the Nile late this afternoon (review will hopefully follow this weekend!), so naturally needed another read to take its place. But sometime in the next few days, I'm expecting a review book in the mail, which I want to prioritize; so I don't want to get tied up in another novel or nonfiction monograph. These are the kinds of times when I often resort to a story collection, in which some items can be read but the rest put by for later on short notice. This time, my choice is the anthology
Favorite Ghost Stories, edited by Aidan Chambers.
I've finished Cyrano de Bergerac (wouldn't have minded had it been longer) and beginning Howard's End. Also, still reading How the Irish Saved Civilization.
Liane Zane (that's a pen name) is a Goodreads friend of mine, and I'm currently reading a review copy of her brand new self-published novel,
The Harlequin & The Drangùe. It's a paranormal romance (she's written other books under her real name, but not in that genre), and the opener for a projected series. PNR isn't normally my thing, but I'm expanding my horizons a bit for a friend. :-)
Donnally, can I ask what version you read of The Brothers Karamazov? And did you find it at all difficult to keep track of the cast of characters?
Although I haven't reviewed it yet, yesterday afternoon I read a newly-published short e-story by my Goodreads friend Paula Cappa,
Beyond Castle Frankenstein, A Short Story. Like many of her writings, it's a ghost story; I'd beta read it some years ago and really liked it. I really liked it on this second go-around, as well!
Reggia wrote: "Donnally, can I ask what version you read of The Brothers Karamazov? And did you find it at all difficult to keep track of the cast of characters?"I read the translation by Constance Garnett. I did not find it difficult to keep track of the characters. Dostoevsky is very good at characterization and brings each one individually to life, even if with only a phrase. I actually put the book down for several weeks after finishing part II, and had no trouble picking it back up again. I didn't suffer nearly as much from 'character soup syndrome' as I have when reading other Russian novels, such as War and Peace, in which there are a multitude of characters introduced at once early on which took me a while to get straight in my mind.
Earlier this year, a lady in another group I belong to posted a favorable review of
The Vampire Sword by T.L. Cerepaka, the first book in his Vampire Sorceress series. She piqued my interest on several counts; so when I learned that the e-book edition is free for Kindle, I took the opportunity to download it. I started on it last night (and read seven chapters --it flows pretty quickly! :-) ).
lol @ character soup syndrome!Anyway, thank you for the response, Donnally. I did have some of that trouble when I started The Brothers Karamazov some years ago. I may use a different translation for my next go-round though.
My Goodreads friend Steve Haywood and I had been planning on doing a buddy read of one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story collections, His Last Bow, so I've finally started on it today. I'm reading it in the print format Summit Classic Press edition,
His Last Bow: 8 Stories, a faithful reproduction (edited by human beings, not a computer program!) of the 1917 American edition by Doran. It'll be a quick read on my part, since I've already read most of the stories.
This month, another group I'm in is doing a common read of Beowulf; I'm starting it late, but finally began on it this morning. The edition I'm reading is Beowulf: A New Verse Translation For Fireside And Class Room, a 1927 translation by Univ. of Wisconsin English professor William Ellery Leonard, which preserves the meter of the Anglo-Saxon, Old English original. There are newer translations, including the one by Seamus Heaney which is the most popular on Goodreads; but I thought this one might rest on solider scholarship.
I just finished reading an Alice Cooper comic miniseries loosely based on the concept album Welcome to My Nightmare chosen for a secret online monthly book club discussion:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Not wanting to start a new novel or nonfiction monograph in the short time before I join in a common read in another group starting on Aug. 1, I've begun dipping into Great Horror Stories: 101 Chilling Tales. It's a sort of companion volume to Great Ghost Stories: 101 Terrifying Tales, an anthology I finished earlier this year (both are published by Barnes and Noble's Fall River Press imprint, and Stefan Dziemianowicz edited both collections).
Mary Connealy is a writer who's become a favorite for both Barb and I in the past couple of years. We've been reading her Montana Marriages trilogy, set in the 1870s, together for some time; but in reverse order, due to the odd sequence in which the books were obtained (mostly through thrift store purchases). Having started with the third book, we've just finished the second; and now we've started immediately on the first one,
Montana Rose. :-)
This month, I'm joining in a common read of
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by M. R. James, in another group. (I was fortunate enough to be able to get a paper copy by interlibrary loan.) So I started on it today. Although I've never actually read any whole collections of his stories before, I've read quite a number of them in other anthologies over the years (starting when I was a kid); of the eight stories here, I've already read four of them, so I expect this to be a pretty quick read.
I'm finally getting around to Life of Pi. I have not seen the movie other than the last 5 minutes I once happened to come across. I think one day it may be considered a classic, but perhaps too soon now as it was published 19 yrs ago.While out of town for the weekend, I came across the 1895 edition of The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus in the home we rented. I managed to squeeze a few tales in...
Though I was born and raised in the Midwest, I've lived in Appalachia continuously for 28 years, and my wife is Appalachian-born and bred. So I have a built-in interest in Appalachian authors like Jesse Stuart (1907-1984). While I've read some of his short stories, up to now I haven't read any of his long fiction, though I've wanted to for a long time. I've finally seized on a window of opportunity to start on his novel Daughter of the Legend, published in 1965 but set in the mountains of eastern Tennessee around 1940.
Although I probably won't be able to work it in this year, I'm really hoping to finally read The Scarlet Pimpernel early next year. Though I'm a history major, and have a certain amount of knowledge of the French Revolution, and an opinion about its significance, based on general reading, I've never read a nonfiction book focused entirely on giving a complete account of the subject; and I think my understanding would benefit from that. So I've started on
The French Revolution: A Concise History by Norman Hampson.
Those both look like interesting reads! I've just finished Life of Pi, and hoping to see the movie soon as I was very affected by the story (just struggling to put it into words yet, lo).
I have a few hours to figure out my next read.
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