what're you reading now?

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Originally posted by Jim Rodger:
[b]

Yst, I'm not a huge fan of either Bradbury or Orwell although they each have very important things to say. On balance, I think I prefer Bradbury as a writer of fiction, though, as I find him generally more subtle than Orwell. But going away from fiction, Orwell is to my way of thinking perhaps the best English language essayist of the last 100 years. You can open any of the four volumes of his collected letters and essays to almost any page and instantly encounter brilliant insights incomparably expressed.
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I consider all of Orwell's major novelistic works (including Wigan Pier and Down and Out, as they're not journalistically accurate enough to be considered mere documentary reportage) prior to Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four to be quite mediocre (his essays are another matter) and so if I were to judge Orwell as a writer on the basis of all his novel writing, I'd come out with a significantly poorer picture of him than I do if I consider him at the end of his life in light of Nineteen Eight-Four and Animal Farm, though, again, if I consider him in light of his essays as much as his novels, he's somewhat ameliorated. So it matters a great deal what the basis is for pronouncing judgment on him.

As for Fahrenheit 451, I think better of it having finished it than I thought of it half way through. That's for certain. But I was more taken with what it had to say that the way it said it.

I read that book last year. I thought it was a good remedy for the usual blanket statements about islam, most often described as a monolith. I also appreciated the historical and political context for each community. Also, the long history of western imperialism in virtually every corner of the world, right up to the present. Although I've for sometime now had that kind of analysis,(knowing more about the south asian and north american variety), the general dynamics seem to be the same for one part of the world as any other, it still shocks me to read it.

Pride and Prejudice -- Jane Austen.

. . . and it came with a picture of Kera Knightly on the cover. That's worth $8.95 by itself!

I enjoyed The Da Vinci Code too, Clog-boy, so I'll stand for the jeering with you. [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]

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Originally posted by Clog-boy:
[b]Might raise a giggle or some jeering, since it isn't really high-literature. But since I don't give a hey: I'm reading Dan Brown's "Digital Fortress" at the moment. Bought it after reading "The Davinci Code". Both books proved great page-turners for me, just eating my way through them. I'll be going for "Angels & Demons" next...[/b]

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Scientists have shown that the trashiest romance novel lights up more braincells than a [i]Nova[/i] marathon on TV. So read whatever gives you pleasure -- reading only hoity-toity "class-marker" literature is a great way to get out of the habit of reading altogether.

[ 30 November 2005: Message edited by: rsfarrell ]

John M. Ford -- Heat of Fusion and Other Stories. I know him as the author of the Star Trek book How Much For Just The Planet. Apparently that's one of his lesser efforts, in which case I have much to look forward to, as I thought it was pretty damn funny.

What am I reading right now...

I'm such a damned exciting guy. Over the past couple weeks, I've been tearing through about thirty reproductions of the various works of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, 1647, in both digital and print form. Being, most notably, the [i]Confession of Faith[/i], the [i]Shorter Catechism[/i] and the [i]Larger Catechism[/i], though these are usually printed along with the [i]Solemn League and Covenant[/i], [i]Directory for Publick Worship[/i] and various other works relevant to the Church of Scotland in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, and usually printed with those royal or parliamentary Acts relevant to them in the 17th and 18th. In the present day, the relevance of these works to modern Christian liturgy is limited to their use by some Presbyterians and possibly by some Congregationalists and Baptists who think the Shorter Catechism remains useful for juvenile instruction.

I retain an affection for liturgy and theology, despite my present irreligiousness (formerly Baptist). Fascinating subject, to me. It merges the legal and philosophic with the spiritual and mythic. From its own point of view on the world it's the ultimate merger of all things which are serious and beautiful in the universe. There is no such thing in my worldview I suppose, so I need to borrow it. I'm a preference utilitarian aesthete with determinist tendencies, and believe no such stuff, but it's interesting to see through the eyes of those who do for a moment. Christians have varying responses, I find, to persons with an exclusively academic interest in theology, who wish to talk about it from a relativist point of view.

[ 02 December 2005: Message edited by: Yst ]

Thanks for the info, mayakovsky. But now I'm faced with a tough dilemna: Do I buy a copy of the Neruda re-release for myself, my father, or my brother-in-law? It'll be tough...

I just finished reading [i]A heartbreaking work of staggering genius[/i]. It was quite good, and it had me laughing out loud several times, which is pretty rare for a book. It wasn't quite as side-splitting as I had hoped, but still well worth the read. I'm considering reading more by Dave Eggers.

And having just finished a book, I now get to do something I *love* doing. Perusing my books and seeing what to read next. I might even go out to a second-hand book shop nearby, and buy something. God I love saturdays!

Yesterday, I borrowed from the library Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World [i]and[/i] Brave New World Revisited".

I don't know why, but I kept getting drawn toward Ape and Essence, but never having read a Huxley book, I ended up getting Brave New World as it was recommended by somebody. You know who you are. [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]

My Christmas reading is Andrew Collins' official biography of Billy Bragg, called [url=http://www.billybragg.co.uk/acatalog/Books.html]Still Suitable for Miners[/url]. Really great and funny book which manages to cover the personal not at the expense of the political. It's about Billy Bragg, but even more importantly, it's about Maggie's Britain.

I'm almost done, and I'm not sure what to read next. Maybe something I get as a gift...

Christopher Ricks - Dylan's Visions of Sin. Veteran literary critic takes on the songs of Bob Dylan. Just skimming through it, which might be the best way to read it.

My Christmas reading is currently:

"Death and Life of Great American Cities" by Jacobs. 200 pages in and it is a lovely read.

"After the Banquet" by Yukio Mishima. Haven't really touched it. [img]frown.gif" border="0[/img]

"Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan" by Bix. The life of young Hirohito is absolutely fascinating to read about.

I've also FINALLY got a copy of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" unabridged (and in English!) to devour. I've read it before, but it was a childish little summary. This one is grusome and really...Wow.

I've got a gift certificate to Indigo-Chapters for 20 bucks and some remaining money. I need a really good book to read. Any suggestions? I must finish EVERYTHING before the holidays are over [img]wink.gif" border="0[/img]

I read a romance novel for the first time in well over a decade, just to read something thoroughly undemanding for my poor stessed-out head. It was a nice reminder why I don't read them, as well as being able to read and think about something else at the same time.

I've also read a children's book, "The Sisters Grimm" to see if it was good to pass on to Ms B or read to Ms T. It was actually quite funny.

I've been reading the Tao Te Ching in bits for a while, and had set it aside while I was too busy with project research, and have picked it up again. I'm also reading Carol Shield's "Swann". I'm not sure I like it especially, but I'm not that far in, yet. It feels like such a luxury to read something that isn't work! [img]smile.gif" border="0[/img]

Finished reading [i]Interview With The Vampire[/i] and [i]The Vampire Lestat[/i] after long having written Anne Rice off as pop culture dreck with which I needn't bother myself. And now I know first hand, why Anne Rice has been labeled a sell-out by many. The Vampire Lestat, as a story, is quite a mess indeed. As before, in Interview, Rice does a fairly good job of exploring the existential quandary with which her 19th century gentlemen vampires are faced. But her attempt to superimpose that quandary onto contemporary pop culture strikes me as an abyssmal failure with no significance to the body of the text other than to render it ridiculous.

Moreso, I don't know why she felt the need to resurrect (if you'll pardon the expression) the character Lestat and the backstory of Interview in order to tell a story which depicts an unrelated personality and claims a different history from the prior book. If she wanted to tell the story of a morally troubled vampire trying to find himself again, she could as easily (well, more easily) have invented another Louis with a different name, without defecating all over her prior work and creating a Lestat who didn't exist within it. I went away from [i]Interview[/i] well pleased with her work, while I go away from [i]The Vampire Lestat[/i] with a bitter taste in my mouth.

Sounds like fun, AA. Another book advertised right next to it - [i]I'm with the Band[/i] - heh: that sounds like fun too.

Eclectic, I love Gardner's essays and interviews too. He was a wonderful critic and teacher. People often say that writing can't be taught, and good writing teachers are probably pretty rare, but he was one, I think. It's wonderful to listen to him talk about good writing.

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faith, 'Between Mountains' is an amazing novel. But Maggie Helwig's work always blows me away. For me, she is probably Canada's best left wing, committed writer. Read her poetry, wow!

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Thank-you for the poetry recommendation mayakovsky I will definitely look into it. The first few pages of the book "Between Mountains' raised goosebumps. Her prose took me into the scene and I could almost smell the night air, I can just imagine her talents applied to poetry.
I took a mystery author pick from the thread we had before Christmas, and chose a Peter Robinson inspector Banks novel called 'Strange Affair' - it was an enjoyable read.

The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison

Fascinating post, Straw Cat - and welcome to babble, if I haven't said that before. [img]smile.gif" border="0[/img]

Reading Wolves (a kids' book), by Emily Gravett. Okay, so it took me five minutes.

P.S. -- Happy new year (going by Babble time)!

[ 01 January 2006: Message edited by: obscurantist ]

I've selected Watership Down (and, after reading this thread, Fahrenheit 451) to teach to grade 8-9 students.

Which should I read first? I think Watership Down because of its environmental slant (having just wrapped up an environment unit), but cripes, it's thick! Which book do babblers think I should start with?

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Originally posted by iworm:
[b]But I really really really tried to read [i]The Da Vinci Code[/i]. Really, I tried! I so wanted to like it. But the cliched text, the cliched characters, the cliched plot structure ---man, I felt myself getting dumber with each page turn. I couldn't get past the first chapter, and even found myself slapping my forehead when the self-flagellating albino assassin made his first appearance.

So for those of you who got through it: my hat's off to the lot you. You are tougher folk than I, and a great deal more forgiving.[/b]

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This book is not a monument to character development. But, the thing I found so captivating about it was the intricate "puzzles" the characters (seemed to plausibly) solve.

Right now, I'm reading Doris Kearns Goodwin's book "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln". It's excellent.

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Originally posted by Makwa:
[b]Lestat becomes the central character in the entire vamp soap. However, there are a couple of high lights. Check out Queen of the Damned, Tale of the Body Thief, Memnoch the Devil and stop. You will leave thinking that Rice is a half decent writer. Now she has become a nuage born again shill.[/b]

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My harsh estimation of [i]The Vampire Lestat[/i] has somewhat moderated itself over time and further consideration. I liked much of it sufficiently that what I disliked enflamed my frustration in a way that it could not have, had it possessed nothing of value to me. And I do now believe I will read [i]Queen of the Damned[/i] eventually. However, I decided to take a little time off Rice and instead read Polidori's [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vampyre]The Vampyre[/url] (1819) and Le Fanu's [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmilla]Carmilla[/url], both of which I have now read. And I'll move on to reading Bram Stoker's [i]Dracula[/i], presently.

As for those first two, [i]The Vampyre[/i] I found to be very much a story for its time and not for ours. Impenetrable, stilted early 19th century narrative prose which certainly foresees the thematic interests but does not really by any means begin to manifest the story-telling artistry and vivid imagery of the Victorian romantics. [i]Carmilla[/i] on the other hand was quite enjoyable, generating genuine suspense where [i]The Vampyre[/i] does not. Very worth the read (although given [i]The Vampyre[/i]'s brevity, I can hardly begrudge it the time I spent on it). It's delightful to see just how much these various competing vampire mythoi have survived and come through to the present quite intact.

[i]How We Die,[/i] by Sherwin B. Nuland, surgeon and superb essayist. I've just started it, but I already knew that he writes like a poet. I can look a lot up, it appears; just ask.

I've been reading Laurie E. Adkins's [url=http://www.web.net/blackrosebooks/polsusde.htm]Politics of Sustainable Development: Citizens, Unions, and the Corporations[/url] from Black Rose Books.

It's got really small font.

It's also got some pretty heavy-duty theory in the first chapter about the role of the working class in the revolutionary project in any "Post-Fordist" society.

I'm only on chapter 5 and so far, 2-5 have been about the roles played in the creation of environmental legislation by business, citizens' groups, and unions. It's pretty detailed and cool stuff.

I'm also reading Don Quixote, which i started on its 500th anniversary. Right now he's lying battered after attacking a herd of goats thinking it was an army of Moors, and having been hit with the slingshots of the shepherds. (He'd only recently gotten his ass kicked by some mule handlers and by a fellow guest at a small inn.)

anyhooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.....