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Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?
- Thread starter Huntn
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Well, I am currently re-reading my way through 'The Witches' trilogy. And the hardback edition is just gorgeous.
'Equal Rites' is really very good, but 'Wyrd Sisters' is just brilliant. Parts of it are laugh out loud funny, with sharp asides and insights apparently casually tossed in to the brew. Classy and sharp, writing, and very, very witty story-telling on so many different levels.
'Equal Rites' is really very good, but 'Wyrd Sisters' is just brilliant. Parts of it are laugh out loud funny, with sharp asides and insights apparently casually tossed in to the brew. Classy and sharp, writing, and very, very witty story-telling on so many different levels.
Well, I may have mentioned this somewhere before, but Granny Weatherwax is one of my very favourite characters in all of conceived, crafted and wonderfully created fiction.
I used to say to my students (when the topic of writers such as Terry Prachett came up in class) that this is who I wanted to be when I grew up…..
I used to say to my students (when the topic of writers such as Terry Prachett came up in class) that this is who I wanted to be when I grew up…..
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Well, I re-read 'Witches Abroad' (by the late, great Sir Terry Prachett) yesterday. This is a rollicking, hilarious read, laugh out loud funny in parts, and sharp as a stiletto in others. Brilliant.
this one i haven't read.
currently reading
non-fiction. an account of the ongoing (and from the relatively recent past) mass extinctions in some ways associated to our taking over the planet
moe for a lay audience, but a so far it's very good
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If you liked 'Wyrd Sisters' (and I loved it), this is more of the same but with a canvas that goes far beyond Lancre; in fact, - eventually - they end up in a place called 'Genua' which seems to be the Discworld's take on New Orleans during the Mardi Gras.
There are hysterically funny grace notes offering brief (but hilarious) homage to a wide variety of cinematic and literary references, (great fun to spot) and some wonderful set pieces. Well worth reading. The character development of the three witches are fleshed out a bit more, too.
wyrd sisters is the Shakespeare one, right?
i mix them up
i need to re-read the early books, since i read them so long ago
Yes, 'Wyrd Sisters' is a sort of homage to both MacBeth, and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Hamlet. The character 'Hwel' (the dwarf playwright), also references some very funny stuff as he imagines plays he could write.
Meanwhile, 'Witches Abroad' references Dracula, a fleeting greeting to Gollum, Hemingway's 'The Sun Also Rises' (a sequence that is sidesplittingly hilarious), The Wizard of Oz, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, among countless other tales, and movies.
It is very, very funny but also - as was always the case with Terry Prachett, both humane and very sharp.
Quite recently, I read a number of books on the Amish, among them Ira Wagler's excellent and powerfully written 'Growing Up Amish'.
Wagler also writes an interesting and thoughtful blog.
One of his recent entries looked at the topic of change within traditional societies, and how changes are resisted and repudiated, and how this tradition of resisting and rejecting change - especially change in the form of technology - developed.
Obviously, much of this is discussed from the perspective of the Amish, but the blog entry also muses about how some of these changes - the effects of which may well be utterly transformative, something which is insufficiently realised - may well prove impossible to resist (here he mentioned specifically the impact of iPod and the iPhone).
It is a very interesting read, and well worth a look, and is a deeper and more thoughtful treatment of this topic from an angle not much discussed, or even noticed.
Re-reading the brilliant (and beautifully written) 'Black Sea' by the wonderfully gifted writer and political/historical commentator Neal Ascherson.
Today's post brought two books, firstly, "Can Intervention Work?" by Rory Stewart and Gerald Knause, and secondly, a book recommended here, on this forum, "The Impending Crisis: America Before The Civil War 1848-1861" by David M. Potter.
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I have that in my Amazon basket for £11.88. Did you find it anywhere cheaper?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...sfl_title_9?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE
Actually, it - the 'The Impending Crisis - America Before The Civil War 1848-1861' by David Potter, was strongly recommended to me a few weeks ago by BasicGreatGuy, - on this very forum, indeed, on this very thread, and I ordered it at the same time.
To be quite honest - I have no idea what I paid, for it, not least because it s entirely possible that I bought several books at the same time. When browsing, or prowling books online, I tend to buy a few at a time.
However, as I bought it from Amazon, it is more than likely that I paid a similar price for it.
A sharp - and somewhat piercing but poignant reminder from a friend - bade me return to take a fresh look at a poem I have not read in decades, though I loved it fiercely in my late teens just before I left school and used to read it with a ferocious hunger.
Well, it amply repays another read, and requests equal absorption.
The poem - an astonishingly powerful one - was written by T. S. Eliot, and it is called 'The Love Song Of J Alfred Prufrock'.
I read with surprised interest that it was first published almost exactly 100 years ago, in June 1915.
It does not read as though it is one hundred years of age, about to celebrate the centenary of its initial publication. Instead, this astounding portrait of anguished but resigned and rueful recognition reads as though it could have been written anytime in the past century.
Do yourself a favour and take a few minutes to read slowly - and richly savour - a true classic of modern art, expressed through the medium of poetry.
Well, it amply repays another read, and requests equal absorption.
The poem - an astonishingly powerful one - was written by T. S. Eliot, and it is called 'The Love Song Of J Alfred Prufrock'.
I read with surprised interest that it was first published almost exactly 100 years ago, in June 1915.
It does not read as though it is one hundred years of age, about to celebrate the centenary of its initial publication. Instead, this astounding portrait of anguished but resigned and rueful recognition reads as though it could have been written anytime in the past century.
Do yourself a favour and take a few minutes to read slowly - and richly savour - a true classic of modern art, expressed through the medium of poetry.
Zoo, by James Patterson. A lightweight entertaining page-turner, I finished it in an evening.
I'd just like to say that I really enjoy your posts and look up everything you read and recommend.
Tis the night that I partake of a "little" "Scottish" water and have just deleted a whole paragraph of ramblings. (It included my reading of "Cancer Ward" by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (just before my dear wife was diagnosed (and subsequently died)) and my love if Dickens. Anyway, thanks and carry on fella. I'll stop now. (Hic!).
I'd just like to say that I really enjoy your posts and look up everything you read and recommend.
Tis the night that I partake of a "little" "Scottish" water and have just deleted a whole paragraph of ramblings. (It included my reading of "Cancer Ward" by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (just before my dear wife was diagnosed (and subsequently died)) and my love if Dickens. Anyway, thanks and carry on fella. I'll stop now. (Hic!).
Thanks for your very kind words.
My condolences on the death of your wife - it is very difficult to lose a loved one, especially to something of that nature, which can be a cruel and unforgiving condition.
Glad you enjoyed Prufrock: To those who think that poetry is effete self-indulgence, I recommend a slow immersion in Prufrock - it is a wry, searing, occasionally painful and superbly brilliant poem and still packs a powerful punch a hundred years later.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
Ah, well, where to start? For several years, I used to teach Russian and Soviet and communist history, so had an interest in this material anyway, although I had started reading Solzhenitsyn's works as an undergrad out of curiosity, and liked the earlier ones, which were the works I first came across.
Actually, I have read all of his stuff, and have different responses to each of his works. The later stuff is uniformly almost awful, and - to my mind - is best completely avoided.
His earlier stuff - including the seminal and politically seismic 'A Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich', and the superb 'First Circle' are absolutely outstanding. The historical work 'The Gulag Archipelago' is also simply magisterial and is a first rate piece of historical research and writing.
'Cancer Ward' - a haunting book, falls right into this period of sustained literary brilliance. The year - 1956 - is of extraordinary and key importance in communist history, but it serves as a backdrop to the wider tale. There are two chapters in 'Cancer Ward' which are easily as good as anything Solzhenitsyn ever wrote anywhere else - the scenes where the protagonist, Oleg Kostoglotov, visits a shop, seeking clothes, and has forgotten what size shirt he takes, and later that same day, when he visits a zoo - and reads the small notices describing the captive creatures - are as gripping, as powerful, and as haunting as anything else he ever managed to put on paper.
Meanwhile, enjoy your 'Scottish water'; and I'll drink a glass to your health. Cheers…..
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I usually buy used books through Amazon. Since I always like having another book ready to read when I finish whatever I'm currently reading, I usually buy 4 or 5 at a time......but sometimes my reaction to the first of a lot leaves me looking at the rest of the waiting-to-be-reads wondering if I've made a mistake 
Currently I'm making my way through some of Philp Roth's books. First was The Counterlife.......causing me some worry about the other 3 I'd bought. Sabbath's Theater increased my concerns. But now I've just finished "American Pastoral", which fortunately I liked, mostly, and am now pretty sure I'll get through the fourth, "The Plot Against America"
Currently I'm making my way through some of Philp Roth's books. First was The Counterlife.......causing me some worry about the other 3 I'd bought. Sabbath's Theater increased my concerns. But now I've just finished "American Pastoral", which fortunately I liked, mostly, and am now pretty sure I'll get through the fourth, "The Plot Against America"
I just started Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo." I am also using the unabridged audible book narrated by Bill Homewood as an added treat. I highly recommend Bill's narration.
In addition to "The Count of Monte Cristo," I have also started "War and Peace" (also with excellent audible narration by Neville Jason).
In addition to "The Count of Monte Cristo," I have also started "War and Peace" (also with excellent audible narration by Neville Jason).
There is a reason the literary classics are viewed as literary classics; they tell great stories, and they have aged well and still read very well almost two centuries after they each were written and published.
Two terrific books - and each, in their own way, an outstanding example of what the 19th century novel had to offer the world.
I agree, Scribe.
It is a shame that so many have never read what you and I hold dear, and consider "classics" in our heart and soul.
I thought about starting a classic reading club thread. I wonder how many of us there are here, who relish the classics, and enjoy discussing books as the pages turn.
Just finished what might be considered a YA novel. Bought it because the title ("Aristotles and Dante discover the secrets of the universe") sounded intriguing and the inner cover listed numerous literary awards the book had received. Although the story was sort of interesting, the prose was just a little better than ok.
In the end, I give the book a 6.8/10. Not a bad book but I can not understand how it got so many awards. I guess it's just that it didn't resonate with me. To each its own.
Last night I started Broken monsters by Lauren Beukes. It had been sitting on my bookshelf for months now. Have you had this feeling of anticipation, this "premonition" of a book being so good you want to keep savoring the fact you're about to start it? Well, that's why I have been dreading to start this one. A similar feeling to when you are so enthralled in a book you want to keep going on but you hate that you are nearing the end.
I don't know if what I wrote made any sense, but hope it does.
In the end, I give the book a 6.8/10. Not a bad book but I can not understand how it got so many awards. I guess it's just that it didn't resonate with me. To each its own.
Last night I started Broken monsters by Lauren Beukes. It had been sitting on my bookshelf for months now. Have you had this feeling of anticipation, this "premonition" of a book being so good you want to keep savoring the fact you're about to start it? Well, that's why I have been dreading to start this one. A similar feeling to when you are so enthralled in a book you want to keep going on but you hate that you are nearing the end.
I don't know if what I wrote made any sense, but hope it does.
