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Last Great Book You Read

A "great" book. That's a pretty big thing. I don't know what the last one was - I mean I'd have to think about what I read when - but I just glanced up at my shelves and saw Rebecca. That is an outstanding read.



When will we start nominating for January? Just curious (and excited of course). The first is obviously on a Tuesday (a little more than two weeks away).



The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Pillars of the Earth have both been on my to-read list for awhile. I really need to make time for them. I've also heard great things about A Mango Shaped Space.
The last great book I read was Vonnegut's Mother Night, which gets its title from Goethe's Faust and follows the life of a former Nazi propagandist (fictional). Really delves deeply into good vs evil philosophy. I've been trying to read through all of Vonnegut's novels this year in his memory. Mother Night has so far been my favorite, though they're all exceptionally good. I also really like Cat's Cradle.


I'm so excited and happy. Sigh. Another fan for this super, super, awesome book. You just made my Tuesday.


I'm gonna have to break down and get Pillars of the Earth. I hate buying Oprah books right after she announces them.
But if anyone wants to give it to me for Christmas, you can get my address from Meghan. Heh.

I bought TPOTE a few weeks ago, and I can't wait to read it - it is going to be fabulous, I'm sure.
I just finished The Alchemist - it's a quick read, but filled with so much meaning. I loved this book so much that I phoned a friend of mine this morning, and she said that was going to go out to immediately to get it, instead of ordering it online. Has anyone else read this gem? Meghan or Emily, I thought that one of you said that you had. Let me know your thoughts if you did.



And now I HAVE to read the sequel. I have to know if it's worthy of being part of all that is good about TPOTE. I don't have time. argh. Anyone know how to stop time, clone myself, or make it so I can read in my sleep?!

Oh, and I sailed on that passageway and got to see both shores, which was kind of cool.

But my favorite reason for liking this book is that Follett entrances you by his characters. You become invested in their lives and whether or you like them or agree with them, you can't wait to find out what happens next.
Oh and don't you just love how you can actually follow how a choice effects not just one character but several throughout their lives? I love that because we so rarely get to see that.



Have you read the sequel yet? GAH! I'm worried the sequel won't be as good and it scares me hahaha.

Most of the best books I've read I've picked up on my own randomly... no recommendations, no reviews, no class assignments (shockingly). That's how it was with The Alchemist, Jane Eyre, Rebecca, Pride & Prejudice, and even To Kill a Mockingbird to name a few. That's not to say that I haven't appreciated and enjoyed books the other way as well... Which is why it seems I am going to HAVE to get a copy of Pillars of the Earth. I love our group!
I'm not big on Oprah books, and have even not read books for that very reason. Lame I suppose, but ugh. Now I don't pay attention, so it can't bother me... except those damn stickers. (Sorry, but it's just funnier with an actual swear word there.) Great big "O's" everywhere. Gah!
But as with the rest of you, I'm so glad she's gotten such a huge amount of the population reading that previously wouldn't have been - and even more so I'm impressed since she's been selecting classics.
I'm not big on Oprah books, and have even not read books for that very reason. Lame I suppose, but ugh. Now I don't pay attention, so it can't bother me... except those damn stickers. (Sorry, but it's just funnier with an actual swear word there.) Great big "O's" everywhere. Gah!
But as with the rest of you, I'm so glad she's gotten such a huge amount of the population reading that previously wouldn't have been - and even more so I'm impressed since she's been selecting classics.

The Alchemist, sadly, was not one of my favorites though. it was recommended to me when it first came out by one of the staff at a local bookstore. He was cute so I bought it blind. I think maybe I just picked it up at the wrong point in my life. It wasn't awful, it just didn't do anything for me. Has anyone read any of Coehlo's other books? The Zahir: A Novel of Obsession (P.S.) comes to mind...
A couple months ago I read his latest, The Witch of Portobello. It was really different. I liked it, but I think it's not for everyone. I'm careful who I recommend it to. But it is a really fascinating journey of faith, hope, and love.
With that book, the cover was so stunning to me, I had to get it. I mean, I knew the author, but I could seriously just look at it. The colors and the lines are rich and elegant. It was kinda cool seeing a guy with it sticking out of his bag at the airport the other day. Not a book I'd think most guys would like.
With that book, the cover was so stunning to me, I had to get it. I mean, I knew the author, but I could seriously just look at it. The colors and the lines are rich and elegant. It was kinda cool seeing a guy with it sticking out of his bag at the airport the other day. Not a book I'd think most guys would like.

Speaking of which...Oprah goes through stages in which I really enjoy the books that she selects or I don't. Early on, I sheepishly admit that I selected a number of Oprah books based on the seal, and I'm happy that I did then, because I wouldn't have discovered such gems as Gap Creek and Fall on Your Knees. However, The Corrections fell very short for me and the whole Frey thing really turned me off, because she let Jane Q. Public change her feelings about how she felt about this book. Oprah went from publicly defending Frey on Larry King to having him on her show so that she could go off on him. I found the whole thing to be unnecessary and off-putting. Nevertheless, I think that guys are more turned off by buying books with the Oprah seal than women so do you think that although the author gains many female readers that she loses male readers because of the seal?
I can't wait to read The Pillars of the Earth. I have a beautiful non-seal copy just sitting there waiting for me. There are some other things that I may read first, and I still need to finish my Dickens' Christmas Books.

Anyhoo, I like that with the classics they put a removable tag so that you didn't have to have the Oprah seal on it. I wish they did that with all the books. It's about as bad as when they make the cover for the movie that's just being released.
But I've read books because of her. But her book club was better in the beginning...when it was about reading. Now it feels like it's more about selling books and dropping names.
But Follett is celebrating like a 10 year anniversary of this book which may be why Oprah chose it. The publishers must have been pushing big time for it.
And Sarah, I bet I'll read East of Eden before you read Pillars. And no fair because your book's bigger. I say if I read EOE, you need to read Shogun.

I hear what you're saying about the movie covers. I wanted to get No Country for Old Men and they only had the movie cover in stock. It makes me feel like I'm not a serious reader, I guess, to buy a book just because Oprah suggests it or because there is a movie coming out. Although, I must admit, I do like to read the book before I see the movie, so that is actually what prompted me to buy both No Country and Atonement.



But as far as getting into the classics goes, I really want to encourage you in that. I decided to give classics a try two years ago and now I can't get enough of them. I think you'll find that they can be fun too! Barnes & Noble is great for classics. Their B&N editions only cost $4.95 and I think they have really fantastic footnotes and endnotes.


But I do suggest that there are far too many books out there to read. So if you do find one you're not enjoying, put it away. I've done the "read it 'cause it's a classic so you can say you've read it" and I really got nothing from it other than I hated it (Wuthering Heights. eck. By the end, I wanted to push Heathcliff into the moors myself!)
The hardest part about reading is that there were so many great books written BUT it never stops. So all these great books keep coming out. I feel like Lucille Ball at the factory. I can't stop the belt and I'm falling behind! heh
I'm going to get back to this group on Wuthering Heights. And The Great Gatsby, for that matter. When I get the chance.

I cannot speak more highly about the PJ Lynch illustrated version of ACC. It really made the story so much more enjoyable.

I'm an English prof and just *had* to comment on Wuthering Heights. Omg, it's my favorite novel in the English language (tied with Middlemarch by George Eliot). My dog is even named Emily Jane after Emily Bronte. It helps a LOT to understand the Bronte sisters to understand their work. I mean, their lives were grim. GRIM. The reason they all died so young is b/c their father was a parson, and back then graveyards were all next to churches, so they'd been drinking water contaminated by rotting bodies their whole lives. ICK.
And once, Emily Bronte was bitten by a rabid dog and didn't want to "alarm" her family, so she cauterized the wound *herself* with an iron she heated up in their fireplace. THAT'S that kind of woman who writes Wuthering Heights.
If you think about it, there is a REAL understanding of abusive relationships in that novel that most women NOW need to understand. I mean, Heathcliff hangs Isabella's puppies and she'll do ANYTHING to get him to love her. He beats her for not being Catherine. WOW.
There really is an immense amount of complexity there. And people from different cultures read it differently. Japanese students (a lot of the time) admire Isabella b/c she isn't histrionic. Her husband beats her, she's faithful, she takes it. They totally "get" her, whereas stereotypical American students LOVE Catherine who freaks out, hits her husband, etc.
I once didn't even get a professorship (I think) b/c one of the profs on the search committee tried to insist that Branwell (the Brontes' brother) really wrote Wuthering Heights. I FREAKED out (b/c she was a young, female professor), and I thought if SHE isn't a feminist, who would be? ARGH!
Well, I hope this helps (or else just that you don't think I'm crazy).
Happy holidays,
Shaindel
Thanks, Shaindel. Wuthering Heights is dear to my heart as I read and enjoyed it at the very impressionable age of fourteen (before I was old, and hard...haha). You defended it much more brilliantly than I could have. It's still one of my favorites, too.

Also, Meghan, I just bought Freakonomics! I have had it on my Amazon list for a bit with no luck and FINALLY ran across it at my favorite book store! I cannot wait to get into it! Whoo hoo!
Take care all, and Happy Holidays! Or not, whatever you do!


I love your comments!! I love Wuthering Heights and would love to hear more! (Not missing school, no, not at all!) Middlemarch is probably my favorite (or at least top 5) novel of all time, so now I am dying to know your thoughts on Elliot!

Books mentioned in this topic
The Pillars of the Earth (other topics)Lullabies for Little Criminals (other topics)
Don't have enough to read over the holidays - well this just might help. A librarian in Connecticut asked people in the UConn Law Community to pass along the last great book they read. You can see the list at: http://simoncan.googlepages.com/newbooks Their entire popular reading collection can be found at:
http://tinyurl.com/yqln7n.
Apparently a lot of the books our club has read is on this list, which we felt was kind of cool. Anyway, Happy Reading 2008!