Greg > Recent Status Updates

I thought Billy Idol's auto was very good, and the Pretenders were huge in the early 80s, like Idol. I love Hynde's voice but have been warned this book isn't very good. I'm reading it anyway.

Oddly, this is sort of dry/sort of matter-of-fact, which only adds to its appeal.

Outside of "comic books" this is my first graphic novel. It's fun!

This is a fascinating study about a time period in Trinidad, how a certain caste lived. But I find myself breaking away after each chapter for a break of a week or so. Not a page-turner.

Well, now I know the source material for McCarthy's "The Road".

It's odd how Tolstoy himself steps into the action to "explain it all' from the history books. It reminds me of that guy at the desk in "Rocky Horror Picture Show" who sort of steps up and narrates every now and then.

I'm always looking for authors I've not read, and since I've read no reviews, I'm going in knowing nothing. I like it so far.

Other than mandatory school readings, I've skipped this genre. Better late than never, and the first poem here, "In Society", was rather raw and edgy for 1947, I'd think.

Alright, Mr. Lebrecht, convince me how Mahler impacted the world to such an extent. I agree, his symphonies are one-of-a-kind.

I often go back and read a certain passage aloud to understand it better. When a sentence takes up almost an entire page, the least little distraction can lead to confusion.

Tolstoy seems to think war is rather pointless. His prose is simply beautiful in ballrooms, rather boring on battlefields. I suppose that's part of the point.

Odd. This consists of five short stories and I just read "Quantum of Solace". For the movie did they just borrow the title and nothing else?

As far as I know, this is the only Bible where everything is in chronological order. I'm at the point where Joshua and his armies have just defeated the "31 Kings" and are getting ready to partition the land among the 12 tribes. Heavily annotated and with footnotes, this is a very informational read.

Incredible, horrifying. I can only read this a bit at a time, and in the early morning. This is NOT late night reading!

This is like a true "Goldfinch" story. Stolen art! Heroes! Villains! A touch of romance! And the same color!

Just finished "All the Pretty Horses", had to have another McCarthy, and anyway this will be my fifth Pulitzer Prize read this summer!

Since I'm always reading "Ulysses" this is a very interesting read. Joyce's practice run with his own style.

This one has everything! Mahler, Hitler, women revolutionairies, degenerates, and of course Klimt and his life and death, how he came to paint what he did. And more! I've visited The Belvedere museum (once a palace for a "confirmed bachelor" with homoerotic paintings on the ceiling. Wonder what that means, exactly?

Incredibly sad, depressing so far. I'm hoping for some kind of redemption for someone, anyone!

Once I was able to get past that jaw-dropping opening paragraph (its gotta be the most audacious, oft-putting opener in all of literature) and read Part 8 (what a beauty!) the duality of everything kicked in for me. This is so much better than I expected. It's a slow, luxurious read.

Just finished the four Rabbit novels, I thought three of them were awesome. So, because this one was 25 cents at a used book store, I bought it. Ready to throw it in the garbage, but just read the most recent five reviews on goodreads, and they average three stars. Will keep reading, I suppose of all the things that has happened this year, the "screwdriver into the jaw for an implant" was worse, and I survived!

So far, this is even better than I expected. It's just beautiful. I can certainly see Proust's influence on Anthony Powell's "A Dance to the Music of Time," which I read over the course of 2014, enjoying its 12 books at the leisurely rate of one per month.