Read any Good Books Lately?

[murraysovereign]

My mother was a HUGE fan of the Master and Margarita - couldn't get her to shut up about it for around 5 years in the late 90s. I tried reading it once, but I clearly wasn't in the right headspace for it at the time and gave up about 2/3 of the way through. But I could tell it was something I could probably get into, just not then. Maybe I'll try it again this winter.

 

First off, though, I want to re-read Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August", then plow into the rest of the bookshelf. The collection has been piling up for a few years now, as self-employment doesn't allow much time to just read for pleasure. It still allows for buying books, alright, just not reading them.

[JackY]

 

Currently working my way thruogh Dark Ages America. It's a very interestring history lesson and a sobering look at where we've been and where we may be headed.

 

 

[KaskadskyjKozak]

My mother was a HUGE fan of the Master and Margarita - couldn't get her to shut up about it for around 5 years in the late 90s. I tried reading it once, but I clearly wasn't in the right headspace for it at the time and gave up about 2/3 of the way through. But I could tell it was something I could probably get into, just not then. Maybe I'll try it again this winter.

 

First off, though, I want to re-read Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August", then plow into the rest of the bookshelf. The collection has been piling up for a few years now, as self-employment doesn't allow much time to just read for pleasure. It still allows for buying books, alright, just not reading them.

 

There is a famous saying about that... owning more books than you can read. :-)

[thelawgoddess]

A week or so ago I read "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom. Started off a little slow and odd, but turned out to be a great short book for the things I've been going through lately.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

A week or so ago I read "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom. Started off a little slow and odd, but turned out to be a great short book for the things I've been going through lately.

 

I read that a couple of years ago... a pretty good story.

[snugtop]

 

I recently finished volume I of The Man Without Qualities, (phew!) by Robert Musil. It's a ridiculous challenge to read when you pick it up but from page one I was hooked. It is set in Austria just before the WWI, and follows Ulrich, a bored would-be mathematician from a declining upper-middle class family as he is pulled into an influential political circle whose aim is to plan an ambiguos "Patriotic Campign". Musil is an astute social critic and tackles Big Themes--war, morality--as well as small themes--how people interact, their inner dialogues and the contradictions between how they see themselves and how others do.

[kevbone]

The Bible.....that is a good read.....right Seahawks?

[builder206]

Except that his version excludes Matthew.

[kevbone]

I thought is was Luke?

[cj001f]

There is a famous saying about that... owning more books than you can read. :-)

 

It's the sign of a wise man?

[G-spotter]

I'm all caught up on my book buys but a week behind on the Economist

[sirwoofalot]

I just finished Les Miserables, Victor Hugo.

I can honestly say the movie is better than the book. the story is great, and the book, when ever he is writing the story and not his politically idiology, is great.

[Alpinfox]

 

I recently finished volume I of The Man Without Qualities, (phew!) by Robert Musil. It's a ridiculous challenge to read ...

 

Yes.

 

 

My recent good reads:

Botany of desire - Michael Pollan

 

Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

 

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

 

Bad Dirt - Anne Proulx

 

Currently reading:

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed - Jared Diamond

 

 

[octopuswithafez]

History of God, Karen Armstrong - an excellent historical overview of Abrahamic religions from pre-Judaism to post-Enlightenment. I am using the bibliography as inspiration for my library queue. Seattle Public Library rules!

Edited October 5, 2007 by octopuswithafez

[JayB]

History of God, Karen Armstrong - an excellent historical overview of Abrahamic religions from pre-Judaism to post-Enlightenment. I am using the bibliography as inspiration for my library queue. Seattle Public Library rules!

 

Good as a scholar, bad as a politician....

 

"On both sides, however, there are double standards and the kind of contradiction evident in Khomeini's violation of the essential principles of his mentor, Mulla Sadra. For Muslims to protest against the Danish cartoonists' depiction of the prophet as a terrorist, while carrying placards that threatened another 7/7 atrocity on London, represented a nihilistic failure of integrity.

 

But equally the cartoonists and their publishers, who seemed impervious to Muslim sensibilities, failed to live up to their own liberal values, since the principle of free speech implies respect for the opinions of others[W.T.F?]. Islamophobia should be as unacceptable as any other form of prejudice. When 255,000 members of the so-called "Christian community" signed a petition to prevent the building of a large mosque in Abbey Mills, east London, they sent a grim message to the Muslim world: western freedom of worship did not, apparently, apply to Islam. There were similar protests by some in the Jewish community, who, as Seth Freedman pointed out in his Commentisfree piece, should be the first to protest against discrimination.

 

Gallup found there was as yet no blind hatred of the west in Muslim countries; only 8% of respondents condoned the 9/11 atrocities. But this could change if the extremists persuade the young that the west is bent on the destruction of their religion. When Gallup asked what the west could do to improve relations, most Muslims replied unhesitatingly that western countries must show greater respect for Islam, placing this ahead of economic aid and non-interference in their domestic affairs. Our inability to tolerate Islam not only contradicts our western values; it could also become a major security risk."

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2131444,00.html

[STP]

On Bullshit, Harry G. Frankfort, 2005

[Jim]

Moby Dick - a great book. I put lots of pencil notes in that one. Came away with the impression that folks are not quite as literate as they used to be back then.

 

The Wild Trees - very interesting, some crazy tree climbers.

 

The Odyssey - Fagels interpretion

[KaskadskyjKozak]

My mother was a HUGE fan of the Master and Margarita - couldn't get her to shut up about it for around 5 years in the late 90s. I tried reading it once, but I clearly wasn't in the right headspace for it at the time and gave up about 2/3 of the way through. But I could tell it was something I could probably get into, just not then. Maybe I'll try it again this winter.

 

There is a point about 2/3 of the way through where it starts to drag.

 

Next time around, I'll read it in Russian. Found it online and the language is definitely not too difficult. Some of the subtleties of naming, culture, etc are lost in translation (as always).

 

I'd like to reread "the Nose" by Gogol again. It's a similarly bizarre story.

 

 

 

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Moby Dick - a great book. I put lots of pencil notes in that one. Came away with the impression that folks are not quite as literate as they used to be back then.

 

I never read Moby Dick in high school or college, and remember all my class mates who read it, hated it, and bitched about it, so I never tried it. I finally picked it up two years ago, and absolutely LOVED it. Melville is a genius, and packs that novel with so much dense symbolism and references it is unbelievable. I especially enjoyed his sense of humor. It's probably my favorite classic - right up there with the Iliad and Heart of Darkness.

 

[Peter_Puget]

 

I recently finished volume I of The Man Without Qualities, (phew!) by Robert Musil. It's a ridiculous challenge to read when you pick it up but from page one I was hooked. It is set in Austria just before the WWI, and follows Ulrich, a bored would-be mathematician from a declining upper-middle class family as he is pulled into an influential political circle whose aim is to plan an ambiguos "Patriotic Campign". Musil is an astute social critic and tackles Big Themes--war, morality--as well as small themes--how people interact, their inner dialogues and the contradictions between how they see themselves and how others do.

 

 

 

Add Magic Mountain and Rememberence of Things Past and you'll have a hat trick.

[Jim]

Moby Dick - a great book. I put lots of pencil notes in that one. Came away with the impression that folks are not quite as literate as they used to be back then.

 

I never read Moby Dick in high school or college, and remember all my class mates who read it, hated it, and bitched about it, so I never tried it. I finally picked it up two years ago, and absolutely LOVED it. Melville is a genius, and packs that novel with so much dense symbolism and references it is unbelievable. I especially enjoyed his sense of humor. It's probably my favorite classic - right up there with the Iliad and Heart of Darkness.

 

Have to agree. I was impressed with the complex metaphors and the many, many references to art, history, music, and literature. Without the footnotes I would have been lost on many of those references. The original did not have these. I guess those who were reading back then were very good scholars.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

 

Have to agree. I was impressed with the complex metaphors and the many, many references to art, history, music, and literature. Without the footnotes I would have been lost on many of those references. The original did not have these. I guess those who were reading back then were very good scholars.

 

The one reference that threw me early on was for a prevaling wind in the Mediterranean... don't recall it now. I had no idea what he was talking about until I looked it up.

 

That book actually didn't do well when it was published. And, of course, fewer people could actually read (and understand it) then. It languished for many years before being "rediscovered" and began to be regarded as a classic in the last century.

 

 

[scott_harpell]

niebelungenleid - makes 300 seem like a disney flick

[ivan]

Moby Dick - a great book. I put lots of pencil notes in that one. Came away with the impression that folks are not quite as literate as they used to be back then.

 

I never read Moby Dick in high school or college, and remember all my class mates who read it, hated it, and bitched about it, so I never tried it. I finally picked it up two years ago, and absolutely LOVED it. Melville is a genius, and packs that novel with so much dense symbolism and references it is unbelievable. I especially enjoyed his sense of humor. It's probably my favorite classic - right up there with the Iliad and Heart of Darkness.

my favorite chapter was "cetology", mostly b/c when i was sophmore and had to read it, i felt pretty sure i could skip it w/o penalty

 

a fine story for sure - the movie w/ gregory peck was tits!

[STP]

YEah, that book figured prominently in Heathers.