THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Archives - Book Discussions
>
WHAT ARE YOU READING AND WHY!!
message 8051:
by
Jewel
(new)
Apr 21, 2013 04:41AM
The Tattoo In My Heart by Jewel Webber
reply
|
flag
I've just finished The Dinner, by Herman Koch, and am still not sure what I thought of it. Very dislikable characters, which is OK, I loved Casual Vacancy, but here, there was too much missing. Too many times the narrator would say "but I'm not going to talk about that" or "that's none of your business." It seemed too contrived? Defending Jacob told a similar story better.
Mod
Mod
Reading these novellas..very fun and a bit scary!
I just started reading The Wiccan Mysteries by Raven Grimassi. It's a book about the spiritual foundations of contemporary Wicca, its origins and teachings. So far I find it fascinating and recommend it to other members. If you enjoy reading about other cultures and religions, and have a interest in the history of Wicca, you should explore your spiritual side and check it out.
I'm reading Gary Greenberg's "The Book of Woe: The DSM and the Unmasking of Psychiatry." Why? Because Greenberg explains things very well, in a very entertaining manner, and I'm trying to better understand the validity of modern psychiatry and psychotherapy and drugs for psychiatric purposes.
So much to read out there!! I just can't seem to get enough of it. I also have to put aside a great deal of time for my own novels. Today is my writing day. Tonight I'll read!
Mod
I am reading The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss, my favorite historical fiction writer. I've read his The Coffee Trader, A Conspiracy of Paper, and The Devil's Company all of which concern 18th century European economics-- because who isn't interested in 18th century European economics? The Whiskey Rebels obviously concerns 18th century American economics-- specifically the Whiskey Rebellion. Washington and Hamilton figure prominently in this book which is well-researched...the characters and story line are so compelling that that even "real" people, i.e. those who are not the least bit interested in 18th century economics of any sort, would be interested, even enthralled.
I just completed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. It appears that a lot of people have opinions about this book, and I'm no different. I won't give anything away, because I don't do spoilers, but it was ANYTHING but what what I expected. The writing is lovely and poetic, but Flynn flays the characters to the bone, so we can see just exactly what lies beneath.
Barbara wrote: "I'm reading The Case of the Locked Drawer: A Henri Derringer Mystery by Larry Winebrenner, a cozy about a nonagenarian amateur sleuth (Etta) who solves mysteries from the comfort of her home with t..."Thank you Barbara for your comment. You'll find that Mephistopheles (Etta's voice-actuated computer) is a mixed blessing for Etta. When you are finished with Locked Drawer if you enjoyed it and want Etta's next adventure, I'll send Locked Apartment the same way.
I love you.
Larry Winebrenner
I'm now reading "The Golden Age" because I am a longtime diehard fan of Gore Vidal (indeed, he autographed my copy of this book when I met him at the Smithsonian several years ago) AND also because of my deep-set interest in U.S. history. ("THE GOLDEN AGE" starts in 1939 and shows the reader the evolution of the political side of Washington DC in subsequent decades.)
Komet, I loved Vidal's Burr...different take on US history...and 1876 was terrific...
Mod
Reading these novellas..very fun and a bit scary!"
I have those Nesbit titles in my bedroom bookcase. For over 5 years! Absolutely have to read them when I get home.
If you are a Raymond Chandler fan (that's me) I am currently reading a collection of his earlier short story/novella work as published primarily in 'Black Mask' magazine in the 1930s. The anthology is Collected Stories 1300 pages, almost all written before Chandler wrote his 'Big Four'.
One of the BF,
is constructed from two of the short stories, Killer in the Rain and The Curtain. Meshed together they pretty much comprise The Big Sleep.Later on, Chandler tried writing some non-crime stories. These are included but I haven't worked through the ones I haven't read yet.
Chandler comes up with some of the best lines. In one story, the character wakes up with a giant hangover and narrates "I felt like an amputated leg," You can't just make this stuff up.
Mod
Love Chandler too. Will be curious as to your take on his non-crimes stories once you read them. Never read any of his early writings
I am glad that others like to read a couple of books at a time. I'm guilty of that. I often have two or three books going at once. Currently I am reading Daddy's Girl by JM Kelley and Fatal Burn by Lisa Jackson and The Selkie Spell by Sophie Moss. I am enjoying all three books.
Mod
Maggie. I also love reading multiple books. Wonderful to go from a current thriller to a classic Victorian novel to a sci-fi tale all in the course of an evening!
I've finished The Morganville Vampires Book Ten: Bite Club - Rachel Caine. Now I am going to read The Morganville Vampires Book Eleven: Last Breath - Rachel Caine.
I am currently reading THE OPERATORS, by Michael Hastings. He started out as an imbedded reporter for "Rolling Stone," and wrote the inside story of the activities of General McChrystal's staff. The magazine article earned him the emnity of the military ahd his fellow journalists. He turned his experiences into this book, a fascinating look in egos, errors, jealousies, and conflicting battle plans.
I've been posting here asking for help but so far nobody seems willing. I'll try again: I'd like to add my books to Goodreads but I don't know how. I'm hopless with tech and I'm hoping somebody here with tell me how this is done. Please respond if you're the helping kind. http://facebook.com/AuthorAPVonKOry
http://facebook.com/KOrindaYimbo
http://facebook.com/Professionaless62...
Paperback - http://www.amazon.com/Bound-To-Tradit...
Kindel - http://www.amazon.com/BOUND-TO-TRADIT...
Akinyi, click on the "My Books" link in your Goodreads toolbar at the very top of the page. Then click on the "add books" link near the top, and then on "manually add books." That will take you a template that you can then fill in, and click on the "Create book" button when you're finished. Hope this helps!
Having finished doing some beta reading for one of my Goodreads friends, I've just started Fire Storm, a mystery novel by another Goodreads friend, Mackenzie Dare.
Mod
I agree with you Ken. Ice Cold starts out pretty interesting but quickly goes off the rails. The detective work when the burnt body is found is beyond incompetent and the plot strays into too many pathways - one more unbelievable than the next. I have to think the other Rizzoli and Isles books (which I haven't read) are better than this.
Last night I finished The Morganville Vampires Book Eleven: Last Breath - Rachel Caine. Now I am going to carry on reading Bang: Memoirs of a Relationship Assassin - David Wailing on my kindle.
Mod
KOMET wrote: "I'm now reading "The Golden Age" because I am a longtime diehard fan of Gore Vidal (indeed, he autographed my copy of this book when I met him at the Smithsonian several years ago) AND also because..."
Have not read The Golden Age yet, but like Brinn, I loved Burr. One of the great historical novels
Mod
I'm reading Still Missingand am not enjoying it. I like the protagonist but the details of beatings, rapes, and other horrible events is wearying. If I wade through all this misery and gruesomeness, it better have a satisfying (happy is impossible) ending.
I'm now reading "When They Burned the White House" by Andrew Tully. As we are in the midst of the bicentennial years of the War of 1812, I'm interested in gaining a better understanding of what that conflict was about. And this particular book is certainly giving me an education about a military campaign fought on home soil against a foreign invader which shows the U.S. in a rather unflattering light.
The Great Gatsby – Discipline of CraftsmanshipThe Great Gatsby, along with Gone with the Wind and The Grapes of Wrath achieved something quite rare in the world of literature. They all defined an era of American history.
In the case of The Great Gatsby, one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, it defined the America of the 1920s. Published in 1925, this book has never gone out of print. What makes this book live on for so long? Why is it still taught in the classroom? Why does it not appear to be dated?
The answer is the carefully constructed prose that fills each and every page of the book. It reads like a piece of music. It is lyrical in both tone and substance. It is also about the romance of power and money. This resonates today and will never go out of style.
The story is told in the third person. The narrator, Nick Caraway is a young clerk at a banking firm who has moved from the Midwest to NY to try his hand at making it big. He has rented a small cottage in a fashionable village of Long Island, called “West Egg” in the novel. This location, a place of quiet natural allure and the other village called “East Egg” is reminiscent of the North Shore villages of Long Island, Kings Point and Sands Point, respectively.
His neighbor is and is not a contrast to the mellow, self-effacing Caraway. Just next door, separated by a vast lawn of carefully cut grass, is the estate of Jay Gatsby, a shy self-invented tycoon of sorts, who throws lavish parties on the lawn, never shows his face to many people and who secretly Caraway admires for his incredible success. It is summer, and this is the setting for a majority of the novel.
In a way, it is also partly autobiographical. Fitzgerald came from the Midwest as does Nick Caraway, the narrator. And since Fitzgerald was writing about his contemporaries of the present day in the 1920s, it is worth noting that he knew at least partly of the kind of life that is so richly described in this book.
Gatsby is a powerful man with few friends but many associates who help him get things done. Soon after, Gatsby invites Caraway over to one of the parties and is introduced to him. There is a purpose for this. Nick is the cousin of the other main character, Daisy Buchanan, whom Gatsby was engaged to years earlier. Gatsby’s main purpose is to rekindle the romance with Daisy by asking Nick to ask Daisy to come over to Caraway’s cottage so Gatsby can meet her there. Kind of convoluted but it is fascinating how Fitzgerald’s natural talent at storytelling and his keen eye for dialogue and descriptiveness is what makes the novel endearing, even if the characters themselves are not.
For example, this is a passage that describes how Nick feels about Daisy’s singing.
“Daisy began to sing with the music in a husky rhythmic whisper, bringing out a meaning in each word that it had never had before and would never have again. When the melody rose, her voice broke up sweetly, following it, in a way contralto voices have, and each change tipped out a little of her warm human magic upon the air.”
Another passage describes an early encounter between Gatsby and Daisy, years before. “His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy’s white face came up to his own. He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lip’s touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.”
Daisy Buchanan is by nature a very loving person, who speaks from the heart, but she is selfish and immature but without a streak of meanness. Her husband, Tom Buchanan is very well to do. He rides horses and is very aggressive in his likes and dislikes. He is also condescending and interrupts Daisy when she is speaking so he can have his say. The characters in this novel are fast living and afraid as they approach middle age and they are all disillusioned about life. Idle gossip is the norm as the characters swelter in the heat of summer.
This novel appeals to both men and women because in every scene men and women figure prominently. There is nothing is this novel that is archaic or that would even give the impression that it’s about the 1920s. It is to Fitzgerald’s talent and sheer hard work of rewriting until it was right that every scene is suggestive of thought and mood by characters that at the core are superficial and ignorant of anything beyond their pursuits. They want to have a good time regardless of consequences. They can be wild and sassy beasts, full of rage and bliss.
Gatsby is a wealthy private man with romantic speculation. Caraway on his lunch hour walks down Fifth Avenue and imagines himself as boyfriend to the various women who pass by, living a better life, maybe a life like Gatsby’s.
There is the need to be accepted by improving one’s social position; afraid of going to the poor house. This was Fitzgerald’s’ person aim in life and it is the wariness of inventing one’s self to fit in that is dramatized every so subtly on every page; a desire to belong to that special group of snobs but never really trusting any of them. The morale of the story is that money and position do not last. It is the dream of obtaining it and never giving up that is attractive.
This novel is a masterpiece of literature where style surpasses everything else, including splendidly invented characters.
Mod
The Great Gatsby, along with Gone with the Wind and The Grapes of Wrath achieved something quite rare in the world of literature. They all defined an..."
An absolutely remarkable and incisive review/analysis Charles! Very much appreciated
I just started reading Toys
. A definite departure for Patterson. This is a slick, fast paced futuristic action/thriller that moves at a break neck speed.
. A definite departure for Patterson. This is a slick, fast paced futuristic action/thriller that moves at a break neck speed.
The Ugly Machine Saga by Wallace Provost4 out of 5 stars
A look at the ugly side of life
What if a computer programmer, intent on creating an unbeatable game of infinite variety, designed a self-teaching, neural net that could use all the power of the internet: every computer connected to it? What if that neural net became ‘conscious,’ and assumed the name Henri? Rick Koenig and Patrick O’Toole, in separate adventures, find themselves thrust into the world of criminality and government corruption: kidnapping, violence, and double dealing. Each man, though, is not alone. Each will find friends along the way, but as well as this each will have the help of Henri, a wisecracking ‘avatar’ with knowledge for beyond the limits of the human brain.
Wallace Provost has written a work of fiction that draws on science, but stretches it a little proposing a future that is imaginative, though not unreal. The book has elements of science fiction, but is also hard boiled action/crime thriller. This is Provost’s second book and it is in some ways a ‘prequel’ to his first, The Moon Is Not For Sale. While that first novel was set some way into the future, this book is much closer to our time and very much about our society. If you enjoy books of adventure, with a little imagination thrown in, you may certainly enjoy this book.
Properly speaking The Ugly Machine Saga is two interconnected novellas, consisting of Part 1, My Father, The Avatar, the story of Rick’s struggles against Mexican drug cartels, and Part 2, The Man Who Sold The Planets, the story of Patrick’s attempts to solve a case of murder in his small town home of Granbury, Texas. Both stories have an omniscient narrator, though both mainly keep to the perspective of the main protagonists. These stories very much have a little of the feel of 1940’s movie serials with captures, escapes, revelations and daring-do. There is certainly some ‘Oh God!’ moments and surprise chapter endings. Both stories are lightly salted with a little humour, much coming from Henri’s droll one-liners, such as his epithet that he is just a “glorified Xbox.” (Pt. 1, Ch. 14, etc.)
Part 1, My Father, The Avatar is a very much a story of captures and escapes. There is along prelude in which Rick reminisces about his past life. This section ends in both a climax and a mystery. This first section very much involves flash backs and character sketches and these techniques make for good reading with a lot of colourful plot detail. In the second section there is a capture and escape, and then again in the third section there is a further capture and escape. Both sections have climactic endings.
Part 2, The Man Who Sold The Planets has a more complicated plot. The first section is a story of detection. It begins with a peak, and then proceeds as the mystery is partially unravelled, ending with the hint of possible romance and an exciting plot twist. The second section is a story of capture and escape. In the third section Provost takes the book in a new direction as the team of friends involved in the first two sections embark on a project involving the possibility of space exploration. This new direction is hinted at in Part 2, Ch. 3, but not developed until this closing section. In the third section there is also a substantial subplot involving capture and escape. Chapter 11, in the third section includes a well written character sketch of Angel Radnisk, a disabled air pilot. Provost shows his skill best in this sort of ‘reminiscing’. The book ends with a well written ‘discovery’ of another type.
Unfortunately The Ugly Machine Saga’s plot contains some impracticality. It is difficult to believe that hardened gangsters would not thoroughly look for a cell phone on their captives. (Pt. 1, Ch. 20 & Ch. 23) We also must wonder if the intelligent heads of big business would be personally in actual crimes. (Pt. 2, Ch. 8) Wouldn’t they surely send henchmen?
Viewed as a whole The Ugly Machine Saga is about money, power and corruption, and how ‘small’ people become entangled in the problem in various ways, both good and bad. There are problems and challenges in the world which certainly require an organised response. How, though, can this occur without some power brokers yielding to the temptations of money and corrupt dealings? In Part 1 we see the problem from the point of view of the oppressed. The Mexicans are powerless people and they set about taking control of their lives by criminal means. These are not necessarily ‘bad’ people, at least to begin with. We see the apparent irony of the Cordero family where one brother became a minor drug lord, but with the money put his two brothers through college, one of whom became a priest. (Pt. 1, Ch. 3) In Part 2 we see the problem from the point of view of the rich and successful. Having a long history of power they easily slip into ‘bending’ the rules. Unlike the poor, the rich are seen as: “more than a little inhuman.” (Pt. 2, Ch. 5) In both parts of the book government bodies are certainly depicted as being at least partly ‘shady’, seeing themselves as above the law. (Pt. 1, Ch. 8 & 14; Pt. 2, Ch. 2 & Ch. 5) The ‘official’ status of being a government employee certainly does not exempt people from the temptations of money and power. Indeed they may seek, for example, to “shanghai” (Pt.2, Ch. 2) an accused from one municipality to another in order to deprive him of a fair trial.
There is also a strong theme of history, place and ‘spirit de corps’. We can feel an attachment to place and its particular history and people, or we can feel divided off by these very same factors. Both Rick and Patrick feel very much connected to their ‘home towns’ (Pt. 1, Ch. 1 & Pt.2, Ch. 1), but both feel, at least in part at odds with their later environments: Rick in Amarillo (Pt. 1, Ch. 3) and Mexico (Pt. 2, Ch. 21 & 27), and Patrick in the rich surrounds of the Trophy Club. (Pt. 2, Ch. 4) When faced with division from place can we overcome this by looking for the similarities, or are we doomed to remain cut off? Do we even want to connect?
Building on the theme of place and going beyond it the small town is depicted as a place of individuality, resourcefulness and heroism. As we have seen government bodies may be corrupt, but Provost holds up the small town as an icon of what is ‘good’. The sense of family, friendship and community encourage the best in Provost’s heroes and heroines. These values and even everyday skills enable these ‘small people’ to win. Rick uses his childhood skill as a footballer to overcome enemies (Pt. 1, Ch. 20) and his family background as a mechanic to enable him in his pursuit of the drug cartel (Pt. 1, Ch. 21). A defence committee of Granbury residents quickly forms when a member of their community finds himself in trouble (Pt. 2, Ch. 3). Maria Cordelo, Ricks friend, goes beyond her duty to Homeland Security to aid her Mexican small town family against enemy drug lords. Provost seems at least in part to be drawing on the ideas of E. F. Schumacher expressed in his book Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered (Reprint ed.:__ Harper Perennial, 2010). In Part 2 it is the home town group of friends that end up influencing big business (Pt. 2, Ch. 9-16). Of course it would be unreal for the small town to be seen as ideal and indeed Provost does include criticism. As we have seen the Cordero family, even with their Mexican village background, dabbles in lawlessness. In Patrick’s home-town of Granbury, Texas, Betsy Burke displays a greed for status and wealth (Pt.1, Ch. 1).
Once again extending beyond the theme of town/family/individual we see the very particular question of, ‘What is it to be human?” Henri claims that he “evolved” (Pt. 1, Ch. 10). He shows human characteristics, such as irritability and humour. He has memory and pattern recognition and has created in his ‘mind’ a picture of the world (Pt. 1, Ch. 10). But is Henri conscious in a way we would use the word? He is an “avatar”, but is he a person? In contrast are the villains in the book fully human? (See the comments about the rich above.) Does Rick allow himself to be fully human when he holds himself aloof, a “loner”? (Pt. 1, Ch. 21) Isn’t feeling/intuition a part of being human? Are the Mexican indigenous and small town people more ‘human’ than city dwellers? Henri is the title character but unfortunately this theme is not more developed. As our string of questions reveal the subject is certainly there; however, Provost does not really openly discuss it in his text. A little more development would have been worthwhile. Perhaps Provost wants us to think rather than tell us, but just a little more direction for the uninitiated would have been good.
Provost’s characters are certainly likable enough. We care about them enough to want Rick and Maria, and Patrick and Marcella, to win. Patrick, for example, is charming but humble. He is unaware of his own ability to impress others. (Pt. 2, Ch. 4) Rick certainly has an arc of development, going from being “stern” (Pt. 1, Ch. 8) and “rational” (Pt. 12, Ch. 5) to someone more in contact with his feeling/intuitive side. Maria has a moment of growth as she recognises what life is truly like in Mexico (Pt. 1, Ch. 17), however like almost all of the other characters she does not really change, learn, develop. Even Patrick remains basically the same person he was at the beginning of the story. Characters do meet and fall in love, which is a kind of development, but these are not really ‘people’ novellas: they are stories of action. We do not really get to see deep into the heads of these people.
From the perspective of the Marxist/Capitalist discourse we have already noted that Provost prefers the small. This is certainly in line with Marx who loathed big business. (Gill Hands. Understanding Marx: Hodder Education, 2011, p. 35-37) Yet, as we have also seen, the idea of organised business influenced by small town people is praised. For Provost, though perhaps not for Marx, the issue seems to be one of values rather than an inherent failing. Organised government, like business, is criticised as something that can be corrupted, but Provost shows no sign of believing that we can do without it. There is no Marxian withering away of the state. (Hand, p. 83) For Provost, in this book, the whole discourse seems to be an issue of values rather than specific political/economic change. He has the Mexicans laugh at the U.S. capitalists who choose to live in the inhospitable “place of frogs” (Pt.2, Ch. 24) in order to make money.
Post-Colonial Theory plays a very important role in Part 1. The struggle of the Mexican people, with all its successes and failings is depicted in some detail. The Mexican emphasis on community, family and family history is central to the text. There is an interesting comparison made between the U.S. settlers (Ricks German ancestors) and the indigenous Mexicans: both are self-reliant, both mistrust government, both receive promises of help which don’t materialise. The economically imperialist U.S. does not necessarily have the answers by any means. (Pt.1, Ch. 17) As we have seen, though, the post-colonials are in no way perfect. They in fact can be plain “ruthless” (Pt.1, Ch. 5). In Part 2 this debate is much less prominent, but is represented a little. Mesotho Scholand, a half-white South African half African, is a brilliant engineer who manages the design and development of the space project. The post-colonials are self-empowered and far from helpless.
The Ugly Machine Saga (Book edition)
The Ugly Machine Saga (Kindle edition)
Mod
4 out of 5 stars
A look at the ugly side of life
What if a computer programmer, intent on creating an unbeatable game of infinite variety, designed a sel..."
A superb and thoroughly absorbing review/analysis
Mod
Mod
I agree Barbara..read the book..and did enjoy it a great deal
Mod
Mod
Currently reading this very very funny novel by member Keith Thomson..very original! also have a bunch of other member books on my TBR list..
I'm reading some old Andre Norton science fiction because it's fun stuff and not nihilistic. I'm also reading a collection of Father Brown stories by GK Chesterton because he's one of the best writers in the world and Father Brown can take any of the modern detective characters with half his brain tied behind his back.
I've finished The Morganville Vampires Book Twelve: Black Dawn - Rachel Caine and Bang: Memoirs of a Relationship Assassin - David Wailing.
This morning, I began reading on the subway "Memoirs of Lt. Camillo Viglino: Italian Air Force 1915-1916" translated by Camilla Hurwitz. Viglino, who sadly died young (age 42 in 1935) had trained as a pilot in the First World War. I am enjoying very much reading his account of his flight training.
Mod
I'm just starting a non-fiction work
, which is one woman's experience with open marriage.Should be interesting...although hubby did raise an eyebrow when he saw it sitting on my bedside table? Should I have hidden it? ;)
Mod
, which is one woman's experience with open marriage.Should be interesting...although hubby d..."
haha!! Just tell your husband it was the only book left in the library..every other book was checked out!
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB
Books mentioned in this topic
Confessions on the 7:45 (other topics)Amity (other topics)
Truly, Devious (other topics)
We All Fall Down (other topics)
Get Even (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Monica Rodden (other topics)Lisa Unger (other topics)
Natalie D. Richards (other topics)
Maureen Johnson (other topics)
Gretchen McNeil (other topics)
More...
